The Mark of Athena
by nevergivein69
Summary: The campers of Camp Half-Blood fly to Camp Jupiter on the Argo II to fulfill the Second Great Prophecy. This is my first story on fanfiction, so flamers, critics, and jerks are all welcome. Rated T for cursing.
1. Jason I

**A/N:Hey, this is my first story on fanfiction and I just wanted to see what I could do so read and review, and flames are all to welcome.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO(which we can all thank God for)**

Jason

Jason stood leaning on the rails of the _Argo II_, staring down at the camp below him. He saw a small town filled with Roman style buildings, and a small military camp, all surrounded by a small river.

The sight made Jason feel like jumping over the rails right then.

The camp made his entire body hurt. He had a headache because of the memories he had of this place, and even more so because of those that he didn't have. He had heartache for all his friends there, and all those he had made at Camp Half-Blood. His butt also hurt from the fact that he was remembering the time Scipio had kicked him there after one of his arguments with Reyna.

"Dude, don't push it," He heard Leo say. "You may be Fly Boy, but if you fall off, you could still crash and burn. I mean, remember last week?"

Jason did remember last week. His memories had started to come back with a vengeance then. It had happened when he was on the rock wall, and he slipped and wasn't able to slow himself until he was about a foot above the ground. He ended up breaking leg and only got better because of the Apollo kids. Since then his powers had been working sporadically at best.

"I know man, but I just really want to see Camp," Jason said, turning around to look at Leo. He was covered in oil and his hair was smoking. "What've you been up to anyway man?"

"Just checking that the engine 'ill be able to make it Greece. I'm still not sure how the it'll travel over the ocean," Leo replied, running a hand through his hair, making it stick up like Sonic the Hedgehog's.

"Well, if everything goes well, we'll have a son of the sea god to help us out along the way," Jason answered.

"Very true," Leo said, and then cracked a smile. "And maybe I'll finally have someone who'll get my humor. From what I've heard he's chiller than you'd expect a kid of the Big Three to be."

"What? I'm chill," Jason replied, slightly offended.

"Sure, just keep thinking that," Leo said, exaggeratedly rolling his eyes. "Anyway, we'll be landing in about five minutes, so I'm gonna go get cleaned up."

Jason nodded, then looked down again, he could already see the Forum, and saw a bunch of kids in armor congregating there. He started to feel worried and wondered if the Romans had gotten their message or not.

He heard footsteps coming up behind him and, looking back, saw Annabeth coming up in full bronze armor. She looked down at the congregation.

"I hope this doesn't turn into a battle," she said, still staring at the Forum. "We're hugely outnumbered, and if Percy's down there, we can't be sure he would help us."

"He can't be that good can he?" Jason asked.

"He's the best swordsman in over a century, can make hurricanes, start earthquakes, and cause volcanoes erupt, so unless you've got your powers under control, he could take out all of our soliders," Annabeth said, a small bit of pride coloring her voice.

"Oh, then we're screwed," Jason said.

Annabeth looked at him and smiled.

"I don't think that'll happen though," she said, "when I saw him in the dream he seemed to recognize me, so I think that'll stop him from attacking us."

"Good," Jason answered, letting out a breath he had realized he was holding in.

Annabeth looked at the incoming Forum, and sighed. "I'm still going to go prepare _our _soliders, just in case." And with that she walked back down the stairs.

Jason looked down and saw that the camp was only about a mile away and that they would be there within a minute. He felt someone tap his solider. He turned around and saw Piper standing there with the hair that she had grown out in a pony tail and wearing her own shining bronze armor. His heart did a little tap dance, as it had every time he had seen her over the last few months.

"Come on downstairs," she said, her voice sounding a little musical since she had started to work on her charmspeak, "Annabeth wants to prep us for the landing."

Jason looked back at the incoming camp, and nodded.

"Alright," he said, and then took a deep breath, "let's do this." And he stepped toward the dark recesses of the ship.


	2. Jason II

**A/N:I realize my first chapter wasn't very long, it seemed longer when I was writing it so I'm going to write another chapter today. I feel the need to add this if any of you know about the ItGetsBetter project and like rock, you should go to youtube and watch the video Make It Stop by Rise Against.**

**Disclaimer: I still haven't written PJO or HoO, but you all will be the first people to know if that changes.**

Jason II

Jason sat in between Piper and Leo at the small table in the ship's cabin. Annabeth was standing in front of a SMART board, which Leo had built in about five minutes, lecturing all of the campers about how they would meet the Romans. The only other people around table were Clarisse from the Ares cabin, because she had refused to be left out of a possible fight, and some Hephaestus campers who were helping Leo man the ship.

"We don't have much time before we meet the Romans, so I'll make this short and to the point," Annabeth was saying. "Clarisse, when we get out there, just keep your mouth shut."

Clarisse started to open her mouth, hesitated, and then closed it giving a shrug.

"Jason," Annabeth started again, "you'll need to go out first because at least a few of the Romans will recognize you, and that should at least keep them from attacking us immediately."

"Roger," Jason answered, then mentally smacked himself in the head.

"Now, you're even talking like a pilot," Leo whispered to him. "Does that make you fly straighter, or faster, or something, 'cause you know you can just strike the Superman pose if you want to do that."

Piper snorted.

Annabeth had stopped because all of the campers had learned about Leo's little comments. "Then the rest of us will follow. That said I think Jason and Piper should do most of the talking because, again, some of the Romans will most likely remember Jason and Piper's whole charmspeak thing will most definitely help make them trust us faster. Well, as long as they don't figure out she used charmspeak, that is. Is that good with everybody?"

"Yep," all of the campers chorused, as the ship gave a great lurch, and pitched forward, and started flying at an angle.

"Alright, everybody up on deck, let's go meet those Romans!" Annabeth said. Everyone started yelling and ran up on deck, leaving Jason and Annabeth the only ones in the cabin.

Annabeth looked at Jason, "Are you sure you're ready for this. I've seen the way you cringe when those migraines hit, and it's only going to get worse when you get out there."

"Yeah, I'm sure," he answered. "I mean it's not like I have much of a choice in the matter, seeing as I don't have a ride back to Camp Half-Blood, besides this ship that is. Are you ready to see Percy, again?"

Annabeth's expression became distant, as it had anyone had mentioned Percy for the last eight months. "Yeah. I just hope he really _does_ remember me, 'cause if he doesn't, well who knows what he'll think of me. He may have even met someone else," she said with an expression like it was literal torture for her to think that.

"I'm sure he hasn't. I mean, from what I've heard, he was crazy about you, so I'm pretty sure you've got no competition here," Jason told her, reassuringly.

She smiled at him thankfully. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she answered. A huge lurch hit then, sending them both toppling, as the _Argo II_ landed in the Forum.

"Uh," Jason said as he stood up, "Leo really needs to work on the landing gear for this thing. Come on, let's go make some new friends, or enemies, really either way we're probably gonna die soon, so let's look on the bright side."

Jason walked off of the deck of the _Argo II_, into the waiting arms of fifty well armed demigods. He stood there for a moment staring at the ranks of soliders, dumstrick, and they were staring back at him, also dumbstruck, when one of them stepped out of the first line.

She was dressed in full Imperial Gold armor, over a purple toga. Her long dark hair was braided over her shoulder and her dark eyes were gleaming.

She opened her mouth and tried to say something, but no sound came out. She swallowed and was able to get out a hoarse, "Jason?"

That one word sent him reeling, and he felt his knees starting to give way, when he felt a voice like an angels harp say, "Keep standing Jason."

He instantly gained all feeling in his body again. He looked to his right and saw Piper standing right next to him, and whispered, "Thanks."

"No problem," she said back. By that time Reyna had also recovered and her usual Roman mask was back.

"What is your purpose for coming here Greeks?" she asked, somewhat harshly. She looked right at Jason as she said it, almost like she felt betrayed that he had been kidnapped.

Piper spoke in her strongest charmspeak voice that carried like a trumpet call, "We are here to find the other members of the seven for the Great Prophecy. We mean you no harm, and would very much appreciate your willing help."

Jason remembered how Piper and Annabeth had spent hours preparing for this little speech, trying to think of the best way to ease the Romans' fears.

A tall black haired guy stepped up next to Reyna. As Jason looked at him a few things about him shook him: the first was that he wore a purple robe, which only praetors wore, his eyes were an intense sea-green, and he seemed to have an aura of power like that of an Olympian god, which made the air around him feel like syrup.

"See Reyna, I told you they came here in peace," the guy said.

"They could easily be lying," said a skinny, blonde kid, who Jason immediately recognized as Octavian.

"Then why did they bring such a small host?" the black haired kid asked.

"He has a point Octavian. With Jason they would have had an approximate idea of our numbers, and yet they brought no more than a dozen warriors," Reyna said.

"Yes, praetor, but they have a heavily armed warship, which does not inspire confidence in their intentions," Octavian answered.

"Well, they are obviously just staying prepared for the journey to Rome," said the black haired guy again. He then looked at Jason, "Aren't you?"

It took Jason a few seconds to find his voice, because, even though this guy was speaking up for them, he still scared Jason, if for no other reason than his obvious power. "Yes," Jason said. "Well, actually we were intending to go straight to Greece, but you guys obviously have some stuff to tell us."

The black haired guy turned back to the Legion, and said, "Which we will, in a more comfortable environment. So, how about we take our new friends to the Mess Hall. What do you say to that Romans?"

They all cheered and started moving toward the Mess Hall, Octavian with a look of outrage at the black haired kid.

That just left Reyna and the black haired guy, who turned around, and walked straight up to Jason.

He stuck out his hand, and said, "It's nice to meet you Jason, I've heard a lot about you. I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon."


	3. Annabeth I

**A/N: First off, thank you all for the reviews, I get why people put the whole read and review thing now. And second, thank you to anyone who has favorite this story, it really does make me feel like I'm doing an okay job with Rick's story. Now on to drama.**

**Disclaimer: I just checked back with my lawyers, and they say that I still don't own PJO or HoO, but it's just a matter of time now.**

Annabeth I

Annabeth was devastated. Percy hadn't even looked at her. Admittedly, they'd only been within a hundred feet of each other for about ten minutes now, but still he didn't seem to even be trying to look for her in the small crowd.

They were all walking toward the Mess Hall she had seen on the _Argo II_, and Percy was walking along beside the dark haired girl, which completely infuriated Annabeth. If they hadn't come to make friends with these Romans, well…that dark haired girl better hope she doesn't get stuck in a room alone with Annabeth.

Piper looked back at Annabeth, and saw her expression. She slowed until she was walking next to her.

"Are you okay?" Piper asked, her voice low.

"What do you think?" Annabeth asked back. "Percy didn't even glance at me, and now he's walking along with that…that…well you know."

Piper smiled sadly, and glanced at Jason covertly. "Yeah, yeah I know. Don't worry though, I'm sure there's a good reason Percy ignored you though."

"Maybe he doesn't remember me, I mean when I saw him in the dream he didn't seem to know remember Grover, and he asked if I was even real. Maybe," Annabeth gulped, "maybe Hera got rid of his memories for good. It's not like she wouldn't love to make my life suck worse than it already does as a demigod."

Piper glanced at Annabeth again, nibbled on her lip, opened her mouth, closed it again, then opend it again and said, "Annabeth, I know Hera is…well, less than the nicest person—or goddess—in the world, but she wouldn't go that far to mess with you, would she?"

Annabeth looked at Piper with misty eyes and whispered, "I really not sure Piper. I'm just not sure." Then she lowered her head, and let a couple of her tears fall.

Piper looked at her for a second, because in the eight plus months that she had known Annabeth she had never seen her even come close to crying. She decided right then that whenever she got the chance, she was going to have a little talk with Percy Jackson.

The group of Greeks walked into the Mess Hall to see a sight that they had been completely unprepared for when they planned to come to the Roman camp. Clarisse for one looked furious, while Leo was trying to stifle his laughs.

The Romans were apparently in a really good mood today because, there was one of them, a really large guy who had a few medals on his chest doing a keg stand.

"Where did they even get a keg?" Nyssa asked, "Are any of them even twenty-one?"

Percy looked back at her with a grin on his face, "The Vulcan kids made it, and it's filled with kool-aid, so don't worry," At that moment the kid fell off of the keg onto his face. "And that's Dakota, senior centurion of the Fifth Cohort. Let's get you guys settled."

He walked up to the kids and said, "Alright guys, get to your tables, and Dakota, don't you think it's a little early to be getting boomed."

The guy looked up at Percy with blurry eyes and slurred out, "Nnnnoooo, iittssshhh nnoooottt." Then he fell back on his face and started snoring.

Percy shook his head, and looked back the Greeks, saying, "Sit wherever you want for now guys. We're gonna get you something to eat, and then we're going to figure what needs to be done, about the whole Rome/Greece thing, that is." And with that he walked to the table at the front of the Mess Hall, with Reyna and Octavian following.

The Greeks chose a table at the back of the Mess Hall, and most of the Romans stayed away from them, but eventually two came over. One was a short girl, with curly brown hair and cocoa brown skin, and the other was a big Asian kid with cheeks like a chipmunk.

They both looked at them, then smiling walked straight toward Annabeth.

"We've heard a lot about you Annabeth, or at least what Percy had time to tell us about you," said the girl, looking with eyes that were a shining harvest gold.

The boy nodded, his cheeks giggling a little, "Whenever he got a memory about you he wouldn't shut up, so he basically talked about you and messed with us."

Annabeth stared at them with wide eyes, a feeling of relief spreading through her. She felt someone nudge her, and, looking to her right saw Piper smiling at her.

Annabeth swallowed, and asked in a small voice, "Um, thank you, but who are you guys?"

They smiled and the girl said, "I'm sorry, that was rude of us, I'm Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, and this Frank Zhang, son of Mars."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow, looking from one to the other, "You're a daughter of Pluto and son of Mars?"

Frank laughed, "Yeah, I guess we don't exactly look the part, well I do from the neck down, but we are, you can ask around."

Leo laughed to, and looking from Frank to Clarisse, whose mouth was hanging open, said, "I don't know, I think I can see the family resemblance," He stood up then, and offered Frank his hand. "And if you guys went on a quest with Percy over there, than I think we're going to be seeing a lot more of each other. I'm Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus."

Hazel squeaked when she looked at Leo, blushed, and hid her face. Frank looked at her for a second, then looked at Leo and took his hand, "Nice to meet you Leo," Frank said with a smile. "And what do you mean by, 'we're going to be seeing a lot of each other'?"

Leo raised a eyebrow at him, "Well, the Great Prophecy of course. I mean me, Jason," he nodded at Jason, "Piper," he also nodded at Piper, "and Annabeth are all going on that quest, and we kind of came to get the other three quest member, and we think at least one of them's Percy, so it only makes sense that you two would be the other members."

"Oh," was all Frank said. Hazel was looking at Leo, with a small bit of fear, which Annabeth didn't understand at all.

Percy stood up then and said, "Romans, as you can all see, we have some new friends here today," he indicated the Greeks, then continued, "they are here to assist us in the Prophecy of Seven," he paused then to let that sink in, then started again. 'That said we seem to be at an impasse as to how we should start, so I'd like to offer the Greeks a chance to tell us what they have learned concerning the Prophecy in the last few months, and then we will tell them what we have learned. Does everyone agree with that?" Percy finally asked.

All of the Romans clapped their consent, and it hit Annabeth just how much Percy had grown over the last eight months. He was always able to inspire people, but now he could actually, make a good argument, almost like a politician.

Frank shook his head, and said, "Gods, how can he talk so well?" He looked at Annabeth and asked, "Did you know he was able to out talk Octavian in the Senate earlier today?" He pointed to the skinny, blonde haired kid next to Percy.

Jason, raised an eyebrow, and asked, with respect coloring his voice, "Really?"

Frank just nodded his head.

Percy then looked at the Greeks as the clapping subsided, and said, "Jason, how about you tell us what happened on your quest to save Hera, and what exactly you found out there."

So Jason told them how they had been messed with by Khione, and Enceladus, and Gaea throughout the entire trip and had learned that they would need to go to Greece, to fight the giants.

Percy nodded and said, "That makes sense, but Thantos told us we would need to go to Rome to find, and close, the Doors of Death." And then Percy recounted their quest, explain how they had also been plagued by Gaea, and that the monsters they fought seemed especially hard to kill, and then what Alcyoneus and Polybotes had told them, with hazel and Frank adding a few things every once and while.

He ended with, "And from what we know, we wouldn't be able to kill the giants without the Gods, and from what Hera told you we'll have to prove ourselves to them by closing the Doors of Death, so I think we might want to start in Rome," he paused then added, "Plus it _is _on the way to Greece, so it's not like it'll mess with our time, that much."

Jason nodded, then looked at Leo, Piper, and Annabeth, and asked, "What do you guys think?"

They all looked at each other, shrugged and Leo said, "It makes sense, man."

Jason nodded and said, "That works for us, so when are we going to leave, and who should we bring?"

Here Percy bit his lip, and said, "Well, if Leo can handle all the mechanical stuff," he looked at Leo to see if he could and Leo nodded his head, "then I should be able to make sure the sails and stuff all works right, so we shouldn't need anyone more than the seven of us," he paused. "That said, I don't think we should leave for a few days, 'cause Frank, Hazel, and I just got back from our quest yesterday, and we should all make sure we're in top condition for this quest, and I think we can spare a couple days."

Jason pursed his lips, then, after thinking it over for a few seconds, said, "That makes sense to, so how about we leave the twenty-seventh."

Percy nodded, looked at Frank and Hazel, and said, "That sounds fine. Plus I'd like to get acquainted with the _Argo II_. I mean I've never worked with a flying ship before, and I don't know exactly how well it'll respond to my commands."

At that moment Octavian stood up, then, with his eyes flashing maliciously, he said, "That's all nice, but don't you think we should have the senators vote on this?"

Percy shrugged, and then yelled, "Senators!" About a dozen people looked at him. "Do you agree with these decisions?"

They all nodded, and Percy looked at Octavian, saying, "There, they agree."

Octavian gritted his teeth, and then asked, "Fine, but if you and Jason are going to be here for a few days, which of you will act as praetor?"

The Mess Hall started murmuring. Percy's eyebrows knit together, and looking over, Annabeth saw that Jason's had too.

After a moment Percy, finally said, "I don't know how Jason feels about this, but I don't think we should worry about that right now."

Percy looked at Jason, as did the Mess Hall, and Jason nodded, "It's probably better that we don't worry about it, because, it's all to likely that we'll both die on this quest, and if we do than the praetorship will have changed to many hands to quickly, so for now Percy should keep it, and we can work that out when, and if, we get back."

Percy nodded, and added, "But if it's too big of a deal, than Jason can have the praetorship. How do the senators feel about it?" he asked.

They looked at each other and one said, "We will figure it out when you all get back."

Percy nodded, and, smiling, yelled out, "Now that all of that's figured out, how about we give our Greek friends a welcoming party!"

The Romans cheered, and food started to sail through the wind like there was a hurricane stuck inside of it.

As Annabeth was talking to a couple of Minerva kids about strategies they use in their war games she felt someone tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Percy looking at her with a smile on his face.

"Can I talk to you in private?" he asked in a quiet whisper.

**Alright now that took me a long time to write, so I hope you all enjoyed it, and next chapter we get to see Percy's and Annabeth, reunion. **


	4. Annabeth II

**A/N: Thank you all again for reviewing my story. Because I know how much it sucks to wait when people leave a cliff hanger I've decided to write the next chapter today, plus I'm kind of bored.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own PJO or HoO, because Rick Riordan just refuses to hand over the rights to them, but don't worry, I'll get him. **

Annabeth II

Annabeth was on cloud nine. Percy was walking with her, thankfully while holding her hand, and would look over at her every once and a while, and would smirk at her expression.

Percy pulled Annabeth on top of a hill and told her, "Look."

She did, and she relieved why Percy had brought her up here. She could see the entire valley below them, the military encampment, which gleamed alabaster white in the morning sun, the Little Tiber, which the Romans had told her the small river was called, looked like liquid diamonds, and New Rome, with its inhabitants just starting to wake up, looked more beautiful to her than Olympus at that moment.

She looked at Percy's face at that moment, and saw how his green eyes flickered as the sun reflected off of them, and said, "It's beautiful, but that's not the only reason you brought me up here, is it?"

He looked at her, and grabbing her waist, brought her closer to him. "No, it's not Annabeth," he said staring her straight in the eye. "Demigods can stay in New Rome. They can be safe and go to college," he paused and said quietly. "And they can raise a family."

Annabeth's eyes widened. She gulped, and looked back at New Rome, and it looked all the more beautiful, like an Elysium brought to the Earth's surface.

She licked her lips, and said, "Can they really?"

Percy nodded, and then laughed looking at her expression. "If you could see your face right now," he said.

She laughed a little too, partly because she was so happy to have Percy back, and partly because of what he had implied by bringing her up onto the hill.

She looked at, and rested her head on his shoulder, because he was about six foot by now, said, "It's going to be like last time, isn't it?"

She felt Percy sigh and rest his head on top of hers. "Yeah, yeah, I think it is."

Then she felt the pressure of his head leave hers and his hand grab her chin. He brought her face up so that she could see his face, and she saw that it was set. "It may be like last time, but I am _not_ letting any of you die," he said his voice shaking slightly with emotion. "Gaea and her kids aren't taking anyone I care about ever again."

Annabeth looked at him for a moment, and then leaned forward and kissed him.

It was like they were back under the lake again. She felt like a literal lightning bolt was running through her entire body, and it started at her lips.

She felt Percy's hand move to her cheek, and pull her closer, while his other hand pushed on the small of her back. Her own hands crept up into his dark hair, and tangled themselves in it.

They stayed that way for a few minutes, or maybe a few years, it was hard for Annabeth to tell, but when they broke apart she was completely out of breath.

She leaned her head against his chest and felt his arms encircle her protectively, and she said, "I'm not going to let them take you either."

Percy chuckled, and replied, "I didn't expect anything less."

Annabeth smiled against his chest, feel at peace for the first time in nearly eight months. "Hera better watch her back, 'cause if I meet her anytime within the next ten years, I'm gonna whup some godly ass."

Percy laughed again, "When you do call me, 'cause I wouldn't mind giving her a bit of what she's got coming."

Annabeth laughed too, and then asked seriously, "How are we going to beat the Giants."

"I don't know," then she could almost sense the playful smile spreading on across Percy's face, "But you could always lecture them for a few hours, they might end up trying to kill themselves after that."

Annabeth hit him on the shoulder, and said, "Shut up, Seaweed Brain, maybe if you didn't mess up so much I wouldn't have to lecture you all the time."

Percy laughed again, "I think I did pretty well on the quest to free Thantos, plus the Romans did make me praetor in like five days, so I must of done something right."

Annabeth looked up at him, while rolling her eyes, "Maybe they just lowered their standards," she said, then stuck her tongue out at him.

"You realized you just said you have low standards, too," Percy said with a smirk. Annabeth frowned while think about it, and Percy laughed and gave her another kiss.

After they broke apart again, Percy leaned his forehead against Annabeth's. They stayed that way for a few minutes, then Percy sighed and said, "I think we had better get back there. From what I've heard about Leo he might get the wrong idea about what we were doing, and we don't want any of those rumors spreading."

Annabeth chuckled, and nodded. She followed Percy as he went back down the hill toward the Mess Hall, still holding his hand. She had no intention to let go of it anytime soon.

**So that's Annabeth and Percy's reunion. I hope you all enjoyed it, 'cause I don't know if I did it that well. Next chapter is Percy, and fair warning, I may not be able to write any chapters tomorrow, or during the week, 'cause of all my homework, but I'll try to get at least a couple chapters done during the weekends.**


	5. Percy I

**A/N: First of all, whoever gave that really long review, thank you. All of those ideas were things that I was worrying about, but nobody had mentioned anything, so I didn't know if I should try to change them or not. Now with that said, and I will try to tone it down, but I can't get rid of any of it because it does have a point in the rest of the story. And I Connor and Travis weren't there, because Clarisse only came if there would be a fight, and I'm kind of regretting having her there because I'm sad I can't use her more, and the Hephaestus campers were there to help Leo man the ship, because I thought he probably couldn't control it like Percy. Also You'll see why I had Jason notice that, and while I think Jason is the Roman equivalent to Percy, they are different, and I'm intending to highlight those difference because all of the Seven must have a part to play, and they can't all be the same. So I'm sorry if that was really long, and I know it may seem like I'm attacking you, or maybe not, I'm not really sure, but I just wanted to make sure that you understood that I do have it all building toward something, and I realize they're plot holes right now, but I do intend to fill them. **

Percy I

Percy was completely at peace with the world for the first time in eight months, or maybe about two, he didn't know how he had felt when he had been asleep for six-ish months. Anyway, he felt ecstatic, he had Annabeth back, their kisses were even better than he remembered, and he had both his old and new families.

Now he was just wondering when this would all crash and burn, because he knew one thing, his luck could never hold, and it was just a matter of time before something came along and completely messed his life, that was, for once, completely awesome.

As Annabeth and Percy were walking back toward the Mess Hall, he saw a tall, dark haired demigod walking towards him.

"Percy, I need to speak with you. Now," Reyan told him. Percy started to put his mind back into the masked, thoughtful state he put it into when he talked to any of the Romans, well except Hazel and Frank.

"What's the matter?" Percy asked.

Reyna sighed, "It's Octavian. He's trying to mess with us. He suggested that we have a match of war games to welcome the Greeks. I think he's trying to show that their weak and make the men question whether or not we should trust them to help us fight the Giants."

Percy nodded, "I'm guessing the soliders loved the idea."

Reyna rolled her eyes, "Obviously. We've been afraid of getting decimated for the last few days. A normal war games would seem like a blessing for them."

"Well, I don't see why we should stop it," Percy said in reply. "The Greeks can handle themselves, I know that for a fact," he paused. "You must of realized that, and I know you don't really need my help to handle Octavian, or any wrenches he tries to throw in the plan, so why did you tell me?"

Here Reyna pursed her lips. "He also suggested that Jason play, to get himself reacquainted with the Romans, but many of the soldiers complained that, whichever side had Jason would have an unfair advantage, so—."

"Well, I get that Jason's strong, I could see that when I met him, but he can't possible influence the entire game, could he?"

"He was able to fight, and defeat, Krios on his own," she said proudly, "so his reputation is enough to make many of the warriors wary of him, so they asked that you fight on the opposing side, seeing as you're probably the only warrior among the entire Legion that can hold his own against him."

Percy knit his eyebrows, "Can I even do that?" he asked. "I mean you never even play, can the praetor even be in the games?"

Reyna nodded, "A praetor is always the referee for the games, but we only need one, so the praetors usual switch up who referees."

Percy shrugged, "Sure, I don't see any problem with that. I haven't competed against a child of Zeus, or Jupiter, whatever, since Thalia a few years ago, so I wouldn't mind that. Plus I want to see what he can do."

"Jason said much the same thing when I proposed the idea to him," Reyna said.

Percy chewed on his lip, and said, "But, should we really do that today? I mean, I feel like I should be trying to recover from the quest, 'cause some of the stuff I did over the last few days was, well, a little less than easy on me, and I know Frank and Hazel need to rest."

Percy heard Annabeth whisper in his ear, "Is someone scared of the big bad son of Zeus?"

Percy rolled his eyes and whispered back, "You wish. You just want to see me get beaten, 'cause no one's been able to since I got the blessing of Achilles."

Annabeth chuckled, "Maybe, but why should you even worry about getting tired? Ever since you got that blessing, you sleep like a rock stuck in quicksand."

"First off, what the hell does 'sleep like a rock in quicksand' even mean?" Percy asked, shaking his head. "And second, I don't have the blessing anymore."

"What!" Annabeth gasped, turning his head so he had to look at her. "When did that happen?"

"When I got here," he answered quietly, then seeing her face added. "We don't have the time to talk about that right now, but I'll explain later, 'kay?"

Annabeth hesitated for a second, and then nodded.

"If you two are done, I'd like to know if I have your consent Percy," Reyna said, a little impatiently.

Percy thought about it for a second, and then nodded his head.

Reyna's expression eased, and she smiled at Percy. "Thank you. I know that this'll put a kink in Octavian's toga," and with that she walked away.

"What's with all of the weird metaphors, today?" Percy asked, not really directing the question at anyone.

Annabeth shrugged and started to pull Percy back toward the Mess Hall.

Before he knew it, the day had completely passed. And dinner was coming to a close.

Reyna stood up, and raising her hands, quieted the entire Mess Hall, and began "Praetor Percy and I have talked it over today, and as I'm sure you have all noticed the fort that the Third and Second Cohorts, along with the Greek Hephaestus," she had to carefully sound out the name, as if it was very foreign to her, "campers, have built, and we decided that we would take Octavian's advice, and have a match of war games to welcome our guests."

The crowd cheered, and it was a few seconds before Reyna could continue. "Praetor Percy has also consented to participate in the games, as you all asked," there was more cheering at this, which made Percy smile in spite of himself.

"With that said, we can't have all of the Romans against all of the Greeks, seeing as they have less than ten men here, so if any Cohorts would like to have them join their side, we would like you to stand up, and speak for them."

There was a moment's hesitation before a deep voice said, "They can join my Cohort, for now."

Everyone looked over to see Frank standing up, and Percy smiled widely as he saw how Frank had stood up for his friends.

The Fifth Cohort cheered, although it sounded a little forced. Reyna nodded her head at Frank, and then said, "Now as you have all also brought up, we can't have two sons of the Big Three on the same team, so I would like to ask if either Jason, or Percy would have a preference for which side they'd like to be on."

The two looked at each other for a second, before a wide smile spread across both faces, and Jason said, "Well seeing as Percy's used to playing defense, and I'm used to playing offense, let's switch things up. What do you think of that Perce?"

Percy nodded his head, and said, "Sounds like a great idea to me," he paused, then said louder. "What do you all think of that?"

The Romans cheered their consent, though many of them seemed confused by what Jason had said.

Reyna nodded, trying to force down a smile, and said, "Now that we have all of that figured out, the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Cohorts will defend, for they won the standards in our last match, while the First and Second Cohorts will attack."

Percy's smile became a little forced as he realized that he would have to fighting alongside Octavian in this match, and against his friends, but it became a little less forced as he realized that he would probably have to deal with Jason for most of the game.

Reyna yelled, "Now let's get out there!" and all of the soldiers screamed and charged out to the Field of Mars.

Percy charged toward the walls of the fort, and deflected the pressurized blasts of water that came toward them, using them to deflect the bolts from the Scorpions, whenever they came towards him or his allies.

Percy stuck out his hands, and using the pressurized pipes in the walls of the fort the move some bricks into a stair-like formation, so his men could easily charge up the walls.

Percy pelted up the steps, taking three at a time, and saw Leo, wrapped in flames sending fireballs at anyone who came to near to the walls, with his mind he forced one of the water cannons to shot a bolt of it, turned it with his will, and sent it mashing into Leo.

Leo fell over the edge, his flames put out, and screamed, "So _not _cool," before a giant eagle caught him, and took him to the sidelines. Percy then jumped off of the wall, and rolled to lessen the impact of his landing.

He looked over to see the Piper girl fighting off six, dazed-looking warriors at once, and take them out with a quick movement of her shining knife. Percy shivered, and, sunning up behind her, while she was dealing with another Legionnaire, smacked her across the head with the flat of his sword. She crumpled and he felt a little bad, both because of the sneaky way that he had taken her out, and because she was someone he was going to have to work.

He started to run forward again, and almost immediately felt a huge blast of wind send him flying toward the wall.

He stuck his blade into the ground before he hit the wall, and held tight to it until the gust ended. He then looked up to see Jason in full golden armor, smiling at him.

Percy smiled back, and said, "That was pretty good man, if I hadn't used my sword as a hand hold, I would've been knocked out."

"Thanks. I saw how you handled Leo, and Piper, too, and that was pretty well done too," Jason replied, while rolling his shoulders.

Percy stood up, while taking Riptide out of the ground, and smiling, told Jason, "Thanks." Then he raised his left hand, and the entire wall behind Jason exploded, and a huge, thirty-foot tall tidal wave raced Jason. He looked back, and shooting into the air, just barely cleared the wave before it hit. Percy stalled it at that point, and forced it to go into the ground, so it didn't get any of his men.

Jason landed on the ground, and, shaking his head, said, "I can see how you were able to fight the Titans. That was definitely impressive."

Percy laughed graciously, and retorted, "Well, controlling the winds would definitely have been helpful when I was fighting Kronos."

Jason smiled, and a sparkle, appeared in his eye, and he said, "You know what else was useful when fighting the Titans?" He raised his sword and thunder crackled in the sky, and a huge bolt of lightning hit his sword, and rushed toward Percy.

Without missing a beat Percy raised his hand, and a pillar of water rose up from the ground, intercepting the lightning bolt, and the lightning rushed into the pillar, and went in to the ground.

Jason looked at him impressed, "How did you do that?"

Percy smiled, and said, "You can actually thank Annabeth for that, she explained how lightning will find the quickest route to the ground, and how water is a pretty good conductor, so by making it a pillar that touches the ground you can stop it in its tracks."

Jason's mouth gaped open, and turning around he yelled, "Seriously Annabeth, you told him how to stop my lightning. That's so not fair."

Annabeth turned to Jason, and smiling, said, "I told that to him last August, in case he and Thalia ever got into it. How was I supposed to know you would come along?"

Jason turned around, shaking his head again, and sighing said, "I guess I'll just have to end this the old fashioned way, then," and he rushed toward Percy swinging his gladius at Percy's arm.

Percy brought up Riptide and parried Jason's blow, then thrust at him. Jason deflected this, and struck at Percy's leg, which Percy deflected. They traded a few more blows, both giving each other a few minor cuts, on the arms and legs, when they both pulled back, and struck at each other's head with the flats of their blades. Both swords connected, and with a sound like a church bell, they both crumpled, as the war games raged on.


	6. Author's Note

**A/N: I'm sorry to anyone who thought this was a chapter, but I want to ask this, a while before I move onto the next chapter, because it will influence it a little. Do you guys want me to stick with the three characters I have right now, or do you want me to add in the other four? This will affect some of the story, but the basic plot will stay the same. I only ask because I know all of the Seven are supposed to have the same amount of importance in the story, and I think that would be best shown if I had all of their points of view given throughout the story. **


	7. Percy II

**A/N: Okay, so first things first, thank you, once again, to anyone and everyone who reviewed, and a special thank you to anyone who offered their opinion on whether I should have all seven characters' POV's or just the three I already have. So far you guys want me to do all seven, and while I still haven't decided yet, I'm leaning that way too. That said, I haven't made the decision, so if you really want me to do the three I already have, make your case. In respect of that I'm going to try to leave this chapter open to Jason, or the next of the Seven I would use. Sorry to bore you all with that, but this chapter will have a huge impact on the rest of the story, because we're going to meet the first Giant in this story, now know I'm not going to tell you guys his name, because I found a huge list of them, and this one stood out to me, and I want to see if you guys can guess who it is, oh and try to guess where he's at, though that might be somewhat easier to guess. Alright on to the story.**

**Disclaimer: Alright, so guys, I have some awesome news for you guys. I owned PJO and HoO, for about five minutes. Then Rick sent some ninjas after me, and they forced me to tear up the rights to it, but I will get them back. I swear it. I SWEAR IT!**

Percy II

Percy was standing in a solid white room. For a second he thought he was back in Alcyoneus' glacier, but then he realized that the room was made of solid, white marble. As he looked closer he saw gold accents, and when he looked at the ceiling, he saw that there was an intricate painting with hundreds of people, all looking at one guy with a really long, white beard**(Can you guys guess where he is yet!)**.

Percy was so mesmerized by the ceiling that he almost didn't notice the huge guy sitting on the pews, looking at the altar at the front of the building.

"I am sorry to bring you here child, but I suppose it is kinder than allowing my mother to speak with you first," he said with a kind, quiet voice.

He stood up and turned around to look at Percy. His appearance shocked Percy. First the guy was at least forty-feet tall, but he looked nothing like Jason had described Porphyrion. He had long silver hair, which lacked any kind of adornment, and white skin, like snow-white, that glowed slightly. His dragon legs were silver, and thinner and more graceful looking than any of the other Giants' legs had been, and while he was muscular, his body was also leaner, and more graceful looking than the other Giants' bodies had been. He was wearing armor, like all of the other Giants, but his was silver, and didn't have any kind of design on it.

But the most shocking thing about the Giant was his face. Unlike all of the other Giants' faces, which had looked like they were hewn out of marble, his was handsome, and looked as if a great sculptor had crafted it. But even more shocking were his eyes. They were a solid sapphire blue, but had a glimmer inside of them, unlike any of the other Giants' eyes.

The guy tilted his head, and smiled benignly at Percy. "Does my appearance shock you?" he asked, than sighing added, "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, you have met my brothers."

Percy opened his mouth, but nothing came out, so he coughed, licked his lips, and then said in a hoarse voice, "Yeah, you don't look like any of your brothers, that's for sure."

The Giant gave a soft laugh, and shaking his head, said, "No I suppose I share much of a resemblance to my brothers." Then his smile shrank, and became a little sad, and he added, "But I did not bring you here to exchange pleasantries. I brought you here to deliver a warning to you."

He took a breath and said, "Do not come to Rome, son of the sea. I know what you have suffered, and I do not wish to give you anymore suffering. Go to your father's domain, be safe there, grow old there, because if you come here, I will be forced to kill you, and sacrifice you to my mother."

He gave Percy an apologetic smile than, and said, "I wish it wasn't so, but it is, and I must do my duty."

Percy looked at him, and licking his lips, said, "You say you've been watching me?" the Giant nodded an affirmative, and continued, "And you aren't giving my friends this warning?"

The giant nodded sadly, and said, "If I told all of them, it would anger Mother Gaea, so I can only offer this to you, and maybe a one of the others, though that will still most likely, still, anger Mother."

Percy stood up straighter then, and looked the Giant right in the eye. "Then you already know my answer, don't you? I'm not going to let you, or Gaea, or any other of you immortal dickheads hurt anyone I love, not ever again!"

The Giant gave Percy an impressed, if unsurprised, look, and with a sigh, told him, "That is admirable, though I am not surprised that you gave it. As I said I have been watching you, and I know what you have done and suffered through, but I will still give you the offer one more time."

"And I will kindly tell you, to shove it up your ass," Percy growled at him, feeling insulted that the Giant had given him the offer a second time.

The Giant laughed, and said, "I can see why my brothers fear you. You have spirit child, I will remember that. So, until we meet again, young one," he then gave Percy another sad smile, and continued, "I hope you are up to the challenge set before you."

The dream dissolved then, leaving Percy with a mental image of the Giant's eyes. He stood in oblivion for a moment, wondering what that glimmer behind his eyes had been. Then the dream solidified so that Percy felt the coolness, and tranquility that he only felt when he was under the sea. He looked around a moment until he found the person he knew had summoned him.

Standing before him was his tall, deeply tanned father. "Hey, Dad. Why couldn't you've brought me here before, I just meet the weirdest Giant ever."

"Who?" his father asked in his deep, calm voice.

"I don't know, some big white skinned one," Percy answered. Then he described the Giant to his Dad.

Poseidon rubbed his beard, and said, "He sounds familiar, but I can't put a name to him." Then he shook his head and said, "That is not why I brought you here though. I would first like to congratulate, and thank, you for killing Polybotes, he could have proved problematic for me, at the moment. I mean I haven't even finished reconstructing the game room in my palace."

Percy chuckled to himself and told his father, "Yeah, you're welcome Dad, but, as nice as that was, you have to have a better reason for bringing me here."

Poseidon pouted at his son and said, "Maybe I just wanted to talk to you," Percy raised an eyebrow at him, and his dad chuckled, and continued. "But you are right, I did not bring you here just for a father/son talk, though eventually, I would like to talk with you about your relationship with Annabeth," Percy blushed; making Poseidon laugh, but he quickly became somber. "I need to tell you, the Great Stirring that Gaea is causing has gotten worse. Greater and greater creatures are rising, and there are a few sea creatures that I fear you may have to face on your voyage, one in particular that I'm not sure even you can defeat."

Percy looked in his eyes and saw the fear that he felt. "How bad could they be Dad?"

Poseidon said, very seriously, "The one I'm thinking of could give Typhon a run for his money, if it could ever get out of the sea. I have taken great care to keep it under control over the centuries, but it has still risen every once in a blue moon, and the incidents have never gone unnoticed. Why, it even stayed awake for a few years during the Age of Exploration."

Percy swallowed, and said, "What do you recommend we do if we come across it?"

"You get out of the sea, and fly, though even that may not be enough, if it realizes who you all are," Poseidon said.

Percy let that sink in, and as he did, he noticed that his dream was becoming fuzzier, and quickly said, "Well, thanks for the pep talk Dad, but that's my wake up call." And everything went black for a second before he woke up.

He opened his eyes, and took in his surroundings. He was in a long room filled with tons of beds, a fair number of them filled.

He looked to his right and saw Piper lying there, with a bandage around her head, staring at him. "Well, it seems the zombie has finally woken up," she said, though her voice was playful. "Thanks for the souvenir yesterday, though I guess I'll forgive you seeing as Jason got you back for me."

Percy lifted his hand to his head and felt the thick bandages that surrounded it. "Aw man, did he beat me last night?" Percy asked.

Piper laughed, and shaking her head, said, "No you guys, more…uh, tied, though you woke up first, so I guess you could count it as a win." She pointed to the bed on Percy's left, and he looked over to see Jason lying there, looking like he was wearing a turban.

As Percy watched, Jason sat up, groaned, and rubbed his head, "I don't want to go to the doctor Mommy…I mean, uh, yeah, I'm up, I feel like I got face palmed by a Laistrygonian, but I'm up."

Percy chuckled, and looking at Piper asked, "Do you know when we can get out of here, 'cause I've got a lot of stuff to tell you guys, but I think Annabeth, Leo, Frank, and Hazel should be there to hear it."

**And that's the end of the chapter, sorry if you think it ended a bit abruptly, but I want to have one of the other Seven's POV's when they hear what Percy dreamt. Leave your guesses on who the Giant is, and if you get it, I'll give you a couple cookies next chapter. **


	8. Piper I

**A/N: Alright, let's start this off by giving you a few answers: first Percy and the Giant **_**were**_** in the Sistine Chapel, and you'll see why I put it there later, I'm not going to tell you who the Giant is, yet, but I felt pretty proud of myself when I came up with him, because he's completely unexpected, and yes, that monster Poseidon mentioned was, indeed, the Kraken, and I have a pretty awesome idea of how they're going to fight him. Secondly, I just want to tell you all that, while you haven't guessed who the Giant is, I'm really impressed with the way that you all interpreted him. When I found out about him, I didn't see who he faced, and trust me, that may sound weird now, but it'll make total sense when I explain who he is. With that said, the fact that you guys linked him to Artemis and Hestia really impressed me, because I didn't see it at all, but it makes total sense now that I look back on it, so I'll give you guys some cookies anyway (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::) (::). Hope you enjoyed them, there were surprisingly fun to make, but I also want to tell you all that I've decided how many POV's I'm going with, and it's all seven. There were more people who wanted all seven than didn't, and while both sides had good arguments, I feel like those for the all seven POV's had a little more weight. I hope that it doesn't get too confusing, with me switching all the time, but I came up with some really cool stuff for the seven POV's. Now sorry about how long that was. And on to the story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't *gag* own PJO, or HoO *alright now stop choking me you ninja douche bags.***

Piper I

Piper was more confused than she had ever been, even more so than when she was five, and asked her dad where babies came from.

She had met the famous Percy Jackson, and it would be a huge understatement to say that he wasn't what she had expected. From the way Annabeth had described him, he was goofy, funny, and really nice, even though he could be an idiot sometimes, and a lot of the other campers from Camp Half-Blood had described him similarly, though they did add that he could be scary as hell. And while she had seen some of that, some things about him had completely shocked Piper. The first was his presence, all of the campers had said that he could be a little intimidating, but she hadn't expected to feel like she was looking at a big big section of the sea, shrunk to the size of a teenager. The second thing was the way he talked, she had seen him talking when he was laid back, but she had also seen him when he was talking to his soldiers, and it wasn't hard to see why they had made him their praetor, he could inspire them, or turn their opinions around, with a few words.

But possible the most striking thing about him was how fast Piper had come to like him, even if he had bashed her on the head. When he wasn't all around as scary as a gang of twelve foot Cyclops, he seemed to give off this calming air that made you feel good, and completely safe. Also, when he wasn't completely serious, he seemed more carefree, and it was hard not to be happy when he was. All in all, Percy seemed like he could be a really cool friend.

But what really worried Piper about him was the way that he could shift from emotion to emotion so quickly. One moment he would be lost in thought, and the next he'd be laughing and carefree. He seemed to embody the sea, and Piper was afraid that Percy would have a hard time taking orders, if he wasn't the leader of the Seven. It wasn't that he seemed power-hungry, actually it was the exact opposite, but he just seemed to have a kind of rebellious air about him. And Piper could also tell that a couple of the others wanted to follow him, so she was a bit worried about what would happen when someone was forced to take charge.

And if that wasn't enough, when the campers had gotten to Camp Jupiter, they met that dark-haired she-devil Reyna. Jason had nearly fallen over just looking at her, and Piper would've been lying to herself if that wouldn't have made her a little happy, but she knew how important this meeting was, so she stopped him from falling.

And then, when Percy had gotten all of the Romans to mingle with them, Piper had seen Reyna and Jason talking together, quietly, and then they had left the Mess Hall, together, which made Piper's blood boil.

And now on top of all that, she found out that, when they got to Rome, they were going to have to deal with some snobby Giant, and may end up facing something as bad as Typhon along the way.

Percy had just finished telling them about his dream, and all of the others were lost in thought.

Annabeth finally looked at Percy, licked her lips, and asked in a small voice, "Are you sure this…this…Giant," she said the word like she was forcing herself to keep from using a somewhat stronger title, "really intends to sacrifice you."

Percy laughed, "I tell you that we're going to have to face a super strong Giant, and monster my dad couldn't even handle, and you're worried about my safety?" Percy shook his head, and asked, "Annabeth, how many times have our enemies intended to kill me, or do something worse?"

"Way more times than I'd like to count," Annabeth muttered to herself. "But don't you think you should at least be a little bit worried, Seaweed Brain?"

Percy smiled, and said, 'Annabeth, I've known what the Giants intend to use me for, for over a week, if I worry myself about it, I'm never gonna be able to get out of bed, so let's move on." He paused for moment, and then said, "I'm more worried about the Giant's offer."

Piper frowned, "Why? It seemed pretty straight forward to me."

Percy looked at her, and his eyes looked clouded, like there was an ocean storm brewing in his head. "It was, but the guy told me to go to the sea, but he also knew a lot about me, so why would he tell me to go to the sea." Percy paused and looked at all of them, "He seemed sincere about not wanting me to suffer anymore, but he must have known that I would be happiest with my friend, and if Gaea wakes, which he's pretty certain she will the sea won't be any safer than dry land. So why not just tell me to go home."

Frank looked at him, and said, "What do you think their planning?"

"I think their planning another attack on the camps, maybe both camps," Percy said soberly.

All of the demigods stared at him, dumbfounded, except for Annabeth, who said, "I thought they might be planning something like that, too." All of them turned to look at her, and she sighed, "Well, it makes sense. They know that the only people who have beaten any of them are going to be going on this trip, so this will be their best chance to take out the camps, and even if the camps can hold off one or two Giants, if they want the camps destroyed, they will be destroyed."

She took a breath, and then continued, "I've been studying these Giants, and they have numbers on their sides. There's not just like ten, or twelve of these guys, there's at least a hundred, maybe more," she let that sink in. "Most of them may not be as strong as the ones we've seen so far, but if they sent five or six, the camps won't stand a chance, plus they may leave a couple of the stronger ones, 'cause, if they succeed in destroying the old Mount Olympus, the Gods will start to weaken, but it could still take a while for them to actually fade, so the Giants may just send a contingent to take them out. Also, they may try to take Mount Tam, 'cause they could probably perform spells and rituals there that they couldn't perform anywhere else in the world."

Annabeth stopped then, and Leo said, "Well, we can't leave than," he looked all of them in the eye, "We have to make sure the Giants don't hurt either of the camps."

Hazel shook her head, "That won't work. If we don't' go to Rome and Greece, the Giants won't have any trouble destroying Mount Olympus, and then Gaea will wake for sure. There must be some way to stop them though." She looked at all of them pleadingly.

Jason had had his eyes closed, but now he opened them, and said, 'Maybe there is. The camps can't stop the Giants' armies on their own, but what if they worked together."

Piper thought it over for a second, just like all the others, then shook her head. "It could work, but then we'd have to leave one of the camps undefended, meaning we'd either have to give up Mount Tam, or Mount Olympus."

Jason's head sagged, as did all the others. Then there was a _snap_, and they all started, they looked over and saw that it was Percy, and his eyes were shining. "Maybe we don't," he said. "Annabeth, do you know if Iris ever delivers packages through her rainbows."

Annabeth's eyebrows knit together, "Maybe. I don't know though. Why?"

"Well, Frank, Hazel, and I met her on our quest, and maybe if we talk to her, we can have her set up a kind of tunnel between the camps, so we can send reinforcements as needed."

All of them smiled, "That might work!" Annabeth said, but then her smiled dissolved, "But we would still need a God to help kill the Giants, and those are in pretty short supply right now."

Percy's smile dissolved too, as did all the others', "Well, the Romans have Terminus, and I guess would could try to convince him to help, I mean he seemed more than happy to help after he helped me kill Polybotes, but I doubt we could get him to Camp Half-Blood, and I know Iris won't help, she's strictly nonviolent."

They sat there thinking for a while longer, before Piper said, "Maybe we could get Iriis to connect us to one of her minor god friends, and I could, uh, _convince _them to help us out."

They all smiled at her, "That's brilliant, Pipes, but do you really think you can do that?" Leo asked.

Piper smiled, "I've gotten a lot better with charmspeak over these last few months, and who knows, maybe I won't even need to use it, I can be pretty persuasive on my own, you know."

Jason nodded, "Yeah, I was dueling her once, and she told me to go, uh, actually I'm not going to tell you what she told me to do," he said, while blushing, and Piper blushed too, "but, yeah, I went and did it."

Leo laughed, "Nice one bro. So bow that we got that all figured out, can I go back to my nap, 'cause you guys totally woke me up, and I was having this awesome dream where I was king of the smurfs, and—."

"Alright Leo," Annabeth interrupted him, "you can go back to bed. As for the rest of us, we need to start getting everything set up, okay? Let's go! Break!"

They all divided up, Jason went with Percy to talk to Terminus, Annabeth and Frank went to talk with Reyna and the campers about their plan to have the camps team up, and Piper went with Hazel to talk to Iris.

"I didn't know we were getting a game plan from a college football coach," Piper said to Hazel. Hazel chuckled and shook her head.

**Alright, I'm ending this one there, and I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm thinking that next chapter, I'll have Piper and Reyna finally talk with each other, girl to girl. 'Kay then, see you guys, and p.s., I may not be able to do a chapter tomorrow. **


	9. Piper II

**A/N: Alright, first things first, thank you, once again, to everyone to reviewed; I'm still debating if that last chapter deserved them. On that note, I would like to say I'm sorry, for a few reasons. First, I'm sorry about the short break, but I've had quite a bit of homework, what with honors classes and whatnot. Second, I'm sorry about last chapter. I wasn't feeling well, I had even stayed home from school that day because I wasn't feeling well, but I thought I might as well try to give you guys a chapter. After I did I took a look at it, thank you by the way to Crane's Shadow, I will read through my chapters from now on, I saw how many typos I had, I also saw that I myself didn't like the chapter. It may be because I hardly ever like anything I do, but it seemed pretty terrible to me, so I would like to apologize one last time. Okay, now on to the story.**

**Disclaimer: I still haven't gotten the rights to PJO and HoO back, but I will, so, for the time being, I don't own anything. **

Piper II

Piper was starting to get annoyed. She and Hazel hadn't had any problems convincing Iris to make the tunnel between the camps, though she did ask that they keep its fung shui**(I looked, that's how it's spelled)** intact, which made no sense to Piper, but she refused to allow them to speak to any of her minor god friends.

"I'm sorry girls, but I can't be a party to this fight, and while I'll help you prepare, I won't bring anyone else into this fight," Iris said, for the thousandth time.

"Please, Lady Iris," Hazel pleaded. "Without the help of a god, our friends won't be able to kill any Giants that come to attack the camp. Please, just let us talk to one of your friends."

"I'm truly sorry Hazel, but I just can't," Iris replied. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let one of my friends go into battle with those monstrosities."

Hazel started pleading with Iris again, but the goddess wouldn't budge on her point. Piper had kept silent for a while, since Hazel had started pleading with Iris, but she hadn't been just spacing out. She watched Iris' face as she spoke, the inflections in her voice, and the subtle body language she gave as she repeated her refusal. The last few months, Piper had embraced her mother's abilities, and she found that she could study people, and understand why they had these opinions fairly easily, and she'd also found out how to guide them by using those opinions. Sometimes it made her hate herself to do it, but Piper knew that she didn't have much choice at this point.

She reached out a hand and touched Hazel's shoulder. Hazel turned to look at her, and Piper looked her in the eye. She knew that her message had been clear when Hazel stepped back, to give Iris a better view of Piper.

Piper stepped forward, and taking a deep breath, began, "Lady Iris, I know you don't want to let your friends into this fight, but we don't have a choice," she said, her voice grave and sad, telling Iris that she felt for her. "If there isn't a god helping Camp Half-Blood, they'll all die. Your children will die," Iris winced, "and the Giants will tear apart all the nature spirits in the valley. They'll cause hundreds of times more damage if they aren't stopped, than we will stopping them." Piper paused letting that sink in, than pushed on. "And I know you're a pacifist, but if we don't stop the Giants early, the fighting will get worse and worse and worse, until it literal consumes the entire world, and the fight that your friends would have been in would be like a water balloon fight compared with what would be to come. So I'm going to ask you one more time, can we please to talk to one of your friends?"

Iris stood there dumbstruck for a second, all of this washing over her, and then she swallowed once, then twice, and said hoarsely, "F-fine, I su-suppose you m-may." Iris then walked away. She was gone for a few seconds, then she came back into view, looking more settled, and said, "I'm going to connect you to her now," she paused for a moment, then added. "And be warned, she can get a little…overexcited, but she may also be your best chance for victory demigods."

Iris dissolved then, and the mist went pure black, but was quickly replaced by another young woman. She was dressed in a light blue jogging suit, and had bright blue, excited eyes in her thin, pretty face. Her hair was long and light blonde, and she had the biggest smile on her face. She was bouncing up and down, like she had just had a dozen double espressos, and when she started talking, she seemed to think that it was a race, and she had to be the fastest, "Are you guys the ones that asked Iry for a warrior?"

She said the sentence so quickly that it took Piper a second to decipher what she had said. When she had, or at least hoped that she had, she said, "Yes?" uncertainly.

The girl gave a happy little squeal, and jumped a few time, then exclaimed, "That's great! It's been so long since I've been in a good fight!" and she squealed again, and then squeezed her eyes shut and jumped up and down a few more times.

Piper looked at Hazel with her eyebrows raised and saw that she was trying to hold had giggles. After she had successfully stifled her laughter, Hazel said, "I'm so glad you can help us, but who are you exactly?"

The girl stopped jumping, and, giving both Piper and Hazel a big grin, said, "I'm Nike, Goddess of Victory, of course! Can't you tell?"

She stood back for a second and spread a pair of massive whitish-gold wings. She grinned at both of them, obviously sure they would both be impressed beyond belief. They both shook their heads and grinned at Nike, more to make sure she stayed happy than because they were impressed.

Piper then said, "Lady Nike, we think that the Giants are intending to attack Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter while we're away, though I'm guessing you already know that." Nike nodded her head vigorously, so Piper continued. "And gods and demigods need to work together to kill the Giants, and even though the Romans already have Terminus, the Greeks need a god to help them kill any Giants that try to attack Camp, so we were wondering if you—."

"If I would help?" Nike interrupted. "Of course! In fact I'll go there now, just to be prepared for the fight, that way I can play against some of you demigods!"

"No! Wait!" Piper yelled, but it was too late. Nike had already disappeared with a puff of smoke and feathers.

Piper sighed and heard Hazel chuckle behind her. She turned around and asked, "Do you think Nike will tell the campers what's coming, or even why she's there?"

Hazel chuckled again, and, shaking her head, said, "I don't know. But I'm pretty sure she'll keep them on their toes, so I wouldn't worry about it too much."

Piper sighed again, and looked at the ground for a moment. She then heard the soft pat of feet hitting the ground and looked up. She saw Reyna coming up the hill, and had to force her face to stay expressionless.

Reyna walked up to them and said to Hazel, "Solider, I would like you to tell the others legionnaires of the plan Frank and Annabeth have just told me of. I have consented to it, and I would like the men to know that they may be sent to reinforce the Greeks at any point, or that we may receive Greek reinforcements at any point." Hazel nodded, then saluted, and then ran down the hill.

Reyna watched her go, then turned to Piper and said, "Walk with me. I would like to speak with you."

Piper could think of a thousand other places she'd rather be than walking with Reyna, and that list included at a metal concert filled with Cyclops and Hellhounds, but she decided to go, thinking she may get an excuse to punch Reyna in the face.

Reyna was silent for a little while, as she stared off in front of her, then she can to a stop and looked at Piper. Piper stopped too and looked Reyna in the eye.'

"Do you know why I wanted to talk with you?" Reyna asked.

Piper thought up a few rude retorts, then decided to go with a politer, "I have no idea."

Reyna sighed, and muttered to herself, "I suppose I shouldn't have expected anymore from a child of Venus," which set Piper's blood boiling, but then Reyna continued. "I have brought you up here to speak about the Quest."

Piper's anger disappeared as surprise washed through her, but it returned a moment later, and she couldn't stop herself from saying, "Why, do you not think a _child of Venus _is up to the task, or something?"

Anger flashed through Reyna's eyes, and she growled out, "No, but maybe I should be," she paused for a moment, and then continued in a more civil tone, "I am here to speak with you about Percy and Jason."

Surprise flashed through Piper again, and this time it kept away her anger, and she was able to ask, "Percy and Jason? What's wrong with them?"

Reyna sighed and said, "I have worked with Jason for nearly a year, and while I have not work as long with Percy, I've still noticed a few things about them." She paused for a second than continued, "Both are born leaders, but their styles are massively different. Neither particularly wants power, but they both hold it well, but they wield it in different hands, so to speak. Jason expects his men to fight and their loyalty, and he also expects them to follow his orders unquestioningly, but Percy is the exact opposite, he thinks he must go into battle first, and give his loyalty, before his soldiers will return the favor, and he expects his orders to be questioned, so that his men can change them if they have to. This may be because of a mixture of their parentage, and their lineage as demigods, but it still will create problems on the _Argo II_, because if their leadership styles weren't bad enough, neither responds well to authority, Percy because of the rebelliousness he inherited from his father and Jason because his father is so used to being in charge."

"Well that's all great, but why come to me about it?" Piper asked.

Reyna sighed, and looked at Piper with irritation, "I came to you because, as much as it may pain me to admit it, you have a way of guiding people, and you may be able to help the two work together when the time comes, because eventually someone will need to take the lead, and those two could end up killing each other if someone isn't there to keep them peaceable."

Piper looked at Reyna, and asked "How do you know they can't handle it themselves? They're both big boys, and they're both mature enough to yield when they need to."

Reyna smiled at Piper wryly, "Come now Piper, you've met both of those two. They're like nuclear bombs waiting to go off, and I can't think of any better way to set off one than by setting of the other. So, do you truly think you can even convince yourself that those two won't tear apart this quest if they get the chance?"

Reyna turned away then, leaving Piper there, thunderstruck, because she knew she would never be able to convince herself that Percy and Jason won't ruin everything if it came to one bowing to the other.

**Okay then, I'm going to end this here. Sorry if you didn't get the confrontation between Piper and Reyna you wanted, but I'm saving that for another time, because neither can be sure of the other's true feelings for Jason, because neither one has told the other of those feelings, and I don't think either of them is irrational enough to just go off at the other for the feelings they might have. That said, I hope you saw the tension between them. Mkay, well that's the end. **


	10. Hazel I

**A/N: I don't have much to say in this Author's Note, just thank everyone for reviewing. Now on to the story.**

**Disclaimer: *No! Not Charlie the Unicorn! Leave him alone! Please just leave him alone! Alright, I'll say it, I'll say it* I *sniffle* don't own PJO or HoO.**

Hazel I

Why couldn't Hazel's life stay uncomplicated? When she was in the Fields of Asphodel, nothing ever changed. In the seventy years she had spent the only change that had happened was some old guy started building highways through it a couple years ago.

Now though, her life was changing faster than she could process. She had been brought back from the Underworld a few months ago, and she had seen all the changes that had happened to the world, and while that all shocked her, when she made it to camp, things had been pretty stable, well except for the blackouts, but, otherwise it was okay. Now though it was like her life was a smoking volcano, and it wouldn't take much to make it all fall apart.

She had gone on a quest to free Death, succeeded, and had lived to talk about it, but she knew that it would've probably been better for her if Thanatos _had _taken her back to the Underworld. Then she wouldn't have to be worried about fighting Gaea, or figuring out how to deal with the new reminder of her old life.

And that may have been Hazel's biggest problem right now, Leo Valdez. He didn't just look like Sammy, he acted like him, he talked like him, and his eyes even had the same gleam that Sammy's had. Hazel might not have minded all of that if she could hate Leo, but she couldn't, because as weird as he was, Hazel found herself really liking Leo. Now even that wouldn't have been a problem, if it wasn't for Frank.

Hazel and Frank _had _talked the night after the fight with Polybotes, and they had decided that they would give dating a shot, but Hazel was now wondering if that had been a good decision.

She liked Frank, he still mad her heart skip a beat whenever she saw him, but when she had decided to try dating him, she hadn't expected Sammy's doppelganger to show up. Now every time she saw Leo, she had a pang in her heart because it made her feel like she was cheating on Sammy by dating Frank.

And to make things worse, she really wasn't getting any time to think over what to do about her whole Leo/Sammy-Frank problem, because they were going to leave on the _Argo II_ in less than twenty-four hours, and she really wouldn't have any chance to get away from Frank or Leo when she was on the _Argo II_, so she didn't know if she'd have any chance to figure out this problem.

All of these thoughts ran through Hazel's head as she walked away from the barracks. She had just finished telling the campers about the plan that they had come up with, and the soldiers had had mixed reactions. Some had groaned, and flopped back on their beds, some had seemed completely unfazed, like they had expected as much, and some seemed genuinely excited by the idea of either mingling with more Greeks, or of a big fight coming, Hazel really couldn't tell which.

As Hazel walked, not really paying attention to where she was going, she felt herself run into something large and solid. She fell back, and landed hard on her butt.

"Ouch," she groaned, then she looked up to see what she had run into, and saw Frank standing over her, looking down at her.

"You okay, Hazel," he asked, offering her his hand.

Hazel took it, and after Frank pulled her to her feet she said, "Yeah, sorry, I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going."

Frank smiled at her sympathetically, and guessed, "Lost in thought?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" Hazel asked.

He chuckled, and said, "Well, it's a lot to process, meeting these Greeks and learning that we're going to have to work with them."

Hazel nodded, deciding that it would be easier to go along with what Frank had said than trying to come up with a new idea to explain why she had been lost in thought. Then she faked a yawn and said, "Hey, it's been an exciting morning, so I'm going to go take a nap, 'kay?"

Frank's smile disappeared, and his eyebrows knit together, but he answered, "Yeah, yeah, that's fine. I guess it has been pretty hectic, so enjoy your nap."

With that they both turned around, and went their separate ways. Hazel looked behind her about halfway back to the barracks, and when she saw that Frank was out of eyesight, she started walking the way she had before, this time knowing where she was going.

About five minutes later, Hazel reached the temples, and started walking toward the Pluto temple. When she got there she walked toward the altar, and taking a few of the gems from her pocket, placed them on top of it.

"Listen Dad, I know you may not be able to acknowledge me, but I really need some help," she swallowed, and continued. "My friends and I are about to start the Quest of the Seven, and if we don't get some help, it's gonna be a suicide mission, and I…I…I can't lose anymore of the people I love." She'd been looking at the ground as she spoke, but now Hazel looked at the statue of her father, and said, "Please Dad, I need your help, I need to find Nico, and I need a God to show me this fight isn't so hopeless." Hazel's fists clenched and she added, "Just give me a sign that we can win this fight, that we can stop Gaea, that I actually deserve a second chance to make things right!"

Nothing happened, and Hazel wondered if her dad had even heard her. She turned away then and walked farther into the temples. A short way in, she heard the sounds of someone else praying to their parent.

Hazel followed the noise until she came upon the temple of Venus.

"…just give us a chance!" Hazel heard someone exclaim. She saw a girl standing in front of the altar to Venus, her body shaking slightly from emotion, causing waves to go through her long brown hair.

Hazel walked forward and put a hand on Piper shoulder. Piper jumped and spun around, pulling out her knife as she did.

Hazel jumped back, raising her hands in front of her, "Whoa!" she exclaimed. "No need to freak out on me. I come in peace."

It seemed to take Piper a second to register that it was Hazel, but then she sighed and sheaved her knife. "Sorry Hazel, you just startled me. I didn't know anyone else was even here."

"Yeah, I didn't either," Hazel said, and then she looked Piper up and down, and noticed that something seemed to be bothering her. "You look like you've got something on your mind. You want to talk about it?"

Piper pursed her lips, then after a moment's hesitation she nodded, "Yeah, I'd like that. I really would."

Hazel and Piper walked away from Venus' temple then, and started walking away from all of the temples, Piper explaining what Reyna had told her the whole way.

Hazel walked beside Piper in silence for a second, contemplating what she had learned, but then sighed, "I think Reyna's right. I know both of them, and they're both really nice, but if you put a thunderstorm and a hurricane in a room together, and tell one of them to follow the other, things are gonna get bad." She looked at Piper for a second before adding quietly, "But if we can get them to work together, we may actually be able to pull this off, 'cause the rest of us may be strong, but Reyna wasn't wrong, those two are like nuclear bombs, and they may be the only one's strong enough to actually take on Porphyrion when we have to face him. And they may be the only people who can keep us together, 'cause I can tell that something is going to go wrong."

Piper looked at her, and asked, "How do you know something is going to go wrong on this quest?"

Hazel laughed bitterly, and answered, "Piper, I grew up with a curse, I've known about how much it sucks to be a demigod as long as anyone, and probably from a younger age than anyone else, and the one thing I know for sure about a demigods life is that, when something can go wrong, it usually goes as wrong as it possibly can. And this quest is full of so much that can go wrong, Gaea's gonna be lucky if she even gets the chance to destroy civilization, 'cause we could just as easily end up destroying it ourselves."

Piper looked at Hazel, gulped, then nodded her head sadly, "The worst part of that is that you're probably right, but we have to do this fight, 'cause if _I've_ learned anything about being a demigod, it's that, no matter the challenge, we have to at least try to save the world."

Hazel smiled at her then, and said, "Yeah, I guess you're right, too, but how are we going to keep Percy and Jason from blowing everything up?"

Piper sighed and answered, "I think we're just going to have to wing it."

"Isn't that all any of us ever do?" hazel asked in reply.

Piper snorted and said, "That's what it seems like. Come on, we better go see how Percy and Jason did with the Terminus thing, and then check out the ship, 'cause I'm thinking we have to leave soon."

Hazel felt the same way, she didn't know how much longer they had before the Giants attacked the old Mount Olympus, but something in the air told her that they would be leaving very, very soon, whether they were ready to or not.

'**Kay, that's the entire of this chapter, and don't worry, the action is going to start very soon, and I have an idea brewing for when they leave Camp Jupiter, so I hope you guys enjoyed this.**


	11. Hazel II

**A/N: Okay, so sorry about the longish break everybody, but I've been dealing with a spat of writer's block. I know where I want this chapter to end, but I've been having a hard time starting it, so I'm just gonna try to get it to be as good as possible. So, on that note, thank for all of your reviews, and now on to the story.**

**Disclaimer: I have yet to get past Riordan's ninjas, but don't worry, I'm working on it.**

Hazel II

Hazel sat in the circle with the other seven members of the upcoming quest, trying to pay attention to Annabeth's ideas for how they should start preparing to leave. It wasn't going as well as she wanted. Every once and a while her eyes would unconsciously move to Frank and then to Leo, and though she hated herself for it, she found herself comparing the two.

Without meaning to, her eyes would go up Frank's body, noting his muscles, but more than that she would see how much he had changed sinse they got back from their quest. Before the quest Frank had seemed to think he couldn't do anything, but now he gave off an aura of confidence, and though he had seemed awkward in his body before, he seemed to feel completely comfortable in his skin now, maybe because he knew he could change it whenever he felt like it.

But then she would look at Leo, and she couldn't help seeing how small he was compared to Frank. But that had never made a huge impression on her because his fun-loving air was the most striking feature. She also noticed that when he thought no one was looking, that air would fade, and be replaced by an inexplicable sadness. She wanted to understand why he was sad, but every time she thought about talking to him about it she would remind herself that, no matter how much Leo looked and acted like Sammy, he wasn't.

Hazel shock herself out of her stupor once again, and forced herself to hear what Annabeth was saying.

"…We need to prepare the others on how to fight the Giants." Annabeth was saying.

Percy sighed in exasperation, "And I already told you a thousand times, we don't have the time. Plus, when we fought them we didn't have any way to prepare. I trust them, and I know you all do to." He looked at all of them. "Just because we're going on this quest doesn't mean we're the only ones who can face these guys." He smiled then, "Anyway Annabeth, You know as well as I do that Clarisse will want a chance to fight these guys, and she won't look to nicely on us helping her."

Annabeth sighed to, "But we can't just leave them unprepared. Most of them haven't fought anything anywhere near as strong as a Giant."

"Yes, but they all have the ability to. I hadn't been trained more than a week before my first quest, and I only a few days after getting some 'on the job training' I was able to face Ares, and it's not like any of them will have to face the Giants alone," Percy retorted.

"Yeah, but—," Annabeth started to say, but then Jason interrupted her. "Leave it bee Annabeth. Percy's right, we don't have the time or the ability to prepare these guys for fighting a Giant. We're just gonna have to trust that they can fight them on their own."

Annabeth glared at Jason for a second, then nodded.

"What!" Percy exclaimed. "I tell you the same thing for like five minutes and get bupkis, but Jason talks for like five seconds, and bam, you immediately agree with him!"

Annabeth stuck her tongue out at him, "Well maybe if you weren't such a Seaweed Brain, you could've done it yourself."

Percy glared at her, outraged, and opened his mouth to tell her off, but then Piper intervened, 'Okay, well if we've got all that settled, is there anything else we need to do before we leave."

All of them looked at each other, and then they all shrugged.

"Good," Piper said, "then we can started packing, because we should be ready to leave first thing tomorrow mor—," She was cut off by a loud screech before she could continue. They all turned their heads as one in the direction of the sound, and what Hazel saw nearly gave her a heart attack. The ground about a hundred yards from New Rome seemed to be boiling, and as they watched hundreds of forms rose out of the ground.

As she watched Hazel saw two forms, smaller than the others, break from the gang of monsters and lead them toward New Rome.

Hazel and the others sat, thunderstruck, for a minute before Leo jumped up and yelled, "They're going for the _Argo II_!"

Hazel saw that he was right, they didn't have any siege weapons to attack the city, and once the monsters crossed the border, some being destroyed by Terminus as they moved across, they angled toward where the _Argo II _was sitting in front of the Forum.

All of them stood up and pelted toward New Rome. "How are we gonna stop that many monsters?" Hazel screamed.

Percy looked back at her, "We'll cross that mountain when we get there."

"But we're literally about to attack them!" Hazel yelled back.

"Don't look at the negative!" Percy yelled back.

By then they had reached the border to New Rome, and Terminus was losing his mind. "Really, this is just ridiculous! It hasn't been more than two days since Polybotes was here, and now all of you are here, too! Oh put down that rock!" The Earthborn he was yelling at looked at him, and threw the stone at him. "Okay I am seriously mad now! I swear when I get my hands on you you're going to regret it!"

Terminus then saw the seven heroes pelting toward the border and screamed, "You had better fix this, Jackson, or I'm going to give you and all your friends so many pink slips!

"Is that even a threat?" Piper whispered to Hazel.

"I have no idea," she whispered back.

"Do you hear me Jackson?" Terminus screamed again. "You'll be stuck with fines for the rest of your lives!"

"He can't even write one of those," Hazel heard Leo whisper to Frank.

"Just don't say that loud enough for Terminus to hear," Frank told Leo.

"Come on Jackson! Hurry up and fi—," Terminus yelled, but then was interrupted by Percy.

"We're on it, man!" Percy yelled back. "Just shut up and let us do this!"

"Well, I never!" Terminus exclaimed, and his face went blank as his spirit moved to one of his other statues.

"Do you really think that was the best way to handle him?" Annabeth asked Percy.

"I don't really care right now, we've kind of got bigger things to worry about." Percy answered.

"They all then reached the Forum to see a frightening sight. The _Argo II_ was completely surrounded by monsters, but none of them were facing it.

A shiver went through the crowd of monsters, and then the front parted revealing two…monkeys?

Hazel rubbed her eyes, completely taken aback by what she was seeing. But when she looked again, the two small creatures in front of her were still monkeys.

"Welcome, heroes," one of the monkeys said in a squeaky voice. "My brother and I would like to welcome you all to our party." He smiled malevolently then and added, "We hope you all enjoy it, because it will definitely be your last."

**Alright this chapter ends here, because I feel the need to torture you guys, and if you're confused by the monkeys, don't worry I'll explain who they are next chapter. 'Kay, I feel the need to tell you all this, I probably won't be updating much, if at all next week, because the new Christopher Paolini book comes out Tuesday, and so does MW3, so I'll be otherwise engaged next week. At that, I would like to say that I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I'm sorry if the beginning is a little awkward, I had a hard time starting this chapter. **


	12. Frank I

**A/N: Okay, once again I would like to thank everyone for reviewing this story, and also anyone who read this story at all. Sorry about the cliffhanger ending last chapter, but that point seemed like a good place to end the chapter, plus I wanted to be in a certain POV when they had this fight. And with that, let's begin the story.**

**Disclaimer: Due to being thoroughly soaked by a large Arctic seal, the documents which showed that I owned PJO and HoO were destroyed, so I once again own nothing.**

Frank I

Frank was thoroughly confused. His girlfriend had been avoiding him. His friend was busy trying to get reacquainted with his girlfriend and old life. He had met some Greeks, who were actually pretty cool. And to top it all off, he now had to deal with a couple of talking monkeys.

"What are you fools staring at!" one of the monkeys yelled. "Are you to afraid to even speak!"

Frank looked at the others and saw looks of confusion on their faces, which he was sure his face mirrored.

"Uh…who…why…how…what are you guys?" Percy asked, his eyebrows raised questioningly.

The monkeys looked pissed. "Who are we!" screamed the other monkey. "We are the Cercopes! Fear us!"

Frank heard a snort behind him and, looking back, saw Leo, his face red from the strain of holding back his laughter.

Annabeth raised her eyebrow quizzically, "The Cercopes?" Then a look a recognition crossed her face, and she sighed with exasperation. "Oh those guys. Gaea has to be joking."

"I resent that!" a Cercope screamed.

"Who are they?" Piper asked curiously, obviously not frightened by the Cercopes.

"They're just a couple of sons of Oceanus and Euryphaessa." Annabeth answered, annoyance at Gaea coloring her voice.

"Um, I know Oceanus was, like the Sea Titan, but who's Euryphaessa?" Leo asked.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "She's just a Titaness. She was also the wife of Hyperion, but that's not really important."

"Hey, that's our mother you're talking about, and she was plenty important!" one of the monkeys yelled.

"So these guys are Titans?" Jason asked, sounding unconvinced.

"Not really. They have two Titan parents, but they're still mortal, or were at least." Annabeth replied.

"You dare—!" one of the monkeys yelled, then started making loud screeching noises.

"So what did they ever do to become monkeys?" Leo finally asked, because he seemed to have finally beaten his laughing fit.

"Well, in the myths, they took Hercules' weapons, but eventually caught them, took back his weapons, and tied them to a stick by their feet and cared them away. He ended up letting them go because they made him laugh—," Annabeth answered.

"What did they do to make him laugh?" Piper asked.

Annabeth blushed. "That doesn't mat—," she tried to say, but was interrupted by a monkey.

"He let us go because he forced us to stare at his ass for hours, and we couldn't help but laugh. But that isn't why we're monkeys! All we tried to do was play an innocent prank of Zeus and when he found out about it, what did he do to us? He turned us into freaking monkeys!" it screamed.

Frank looked at Annabeth "Is that really what happened?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Probably, Zeus doesn't have the greatest sense of humor, and it would make sense that he would turn them into monkeys," she paused, and then added. "He seems to have a certain sense for irony."

"Irony!" the other Cercope yelled. "I don't give a fu—!"

"Alright," Piper put in, "let's just calm down." She looked at the Cercopes, "Maybe we can get Zeus to turn you guys back into humans. Wouldn't that be nice? That way you don't need to destroy our ship, or attack us, so you can just take all of these Earthborn away, and we'll talk to Zeus when we get the chance."

Frank's legs twitched as he felt a sudden urge to walk away from the _Argo II_. He felt a compulsion to make sure that he was nowhere near it, so he wouldn't have any chance to damage it.

A few of the Earthborn seemed to be getting the same idea, because they started to walk away from the ship. One of the Cercopes turned around and ordered them, "Stay where you are!" Then he looked at Piper. "Nice try, girl, but my brother and I are children of the mother of the moon, Sun, and dawn. Haven't you ever wondered why men have such a love for these deities? All had incredible power of charmspeak, and they guided men into loving them with their words alone.**(I made this up, but I felt like it fit, but they were half brothers of Helios, Selena, and Eos)** We trained against charmspeak for years; you have no power over us." The monkey then looked behind him and yelled, "Attack, you fools! Spill their blood! Quench the Earth Mother's thirst!"

The Earthborn charged at the heroes, who all raised their weapons to defend themselves. Frank shot arrow after arrow at the monsters, but for every one that disintegrated, another three took its place.

After a few minutes of tearing through Earthborn, when it seemed like Frank and his friends might actually be able to beat the army, he heard an angry shout.

"You little thumbed rats! When I get you, I'm gonna show you why Poseidon replaced Oceanus as Lord of the Sea."

Frank looked to his right to see Percy surrounded by Earthborn and his sword missing from his hand. When Frank saw where Percy was looking he saw a Cercope carrying riptide over its head.

He then heard another yell and after looking in searching for its source saw a furious Annabeth. "Oh, you little S.O.B's are gonna pay! I'm gonna shove my wisdom right up your ass!" she screamed. Frank again looked in the direction she was looking and saw the other Cercope.

Soon all of them had lost their weapons because the Cercopes had somehow succeeded in sneaking up on all of them and taking their weapons while they were otherwise engaged.

The seven of them were now standing back to back, fighting off Earthborn with spare tools that Leo had pulled from his tool belt or their powers. Frank was a massive grizzly bear at this point, cutting down Earthborn with his powerful claws. His mind was racing because there were still hundreds of Earthborn, and Frank knew that he and his friend couldn't kill this many monsters without proper weapons.

Frank saw Annabeth glaring at him from his peripheral vision, and he tilted his head at her questioningly, seeing as he couldn't ask her what she was glaring at her about.

"What the hell are you still doing here!" she yelled at him. He tilted his head farther, as he tore an Earthborn in two with his claws.

"Percy told me you can change into anything. Was he right?" Frank nodded his head. "Then change into something fast, catch those poop throwing idiots, beat the crap out of them, and get our weapons back!" she yelled at him.

Frank mentally hit himself in the head. _Why didn't I think of that! _He berated himself. He then pushed forward, easily breaking a path through the Earthborn in front of him, and once he had left the sea of bodies behind him, changed into an eagle.

He quickly took flight and began searching the ground below him for the Cercopes, who had disappeared after taking their weapons.

Frank soon found them sitting on top of the Forum, laughing as his friend tried to fight off the Earthborn, with the weapons scattered around them.

Frank tucked in his wings and dove at the two laughing forms. They saw him a second before he reached him, and dove out of the way. He grabbed Riptide in his talons, and made a tight turn back toward the fight.

He screeched loudly, looking at Percy and when he saw him look up, dropped the sword. Percy smiled, reached one hand up for the sword, while thrusting the other out to cause a gale force wind to throw away the Earthborn surrounding him. He caught the blade and immediately allowed his hurricane to abate. He quickly threw himself back into the skirmish, easily dispatching any opponent that came toward him.

Frank then looked back to see the Cercopes gathering the other weapons in an attempt to move them before Frank came back. Frank rose high into the air while drifting forward. He waited until he was directly over the Cercopes, then dove straight down toward one of them. The Cercope looked up, saw him, screeched in fear and dove out of the way. Frank used his wings to quickly pull out of the dive, extending his talons again, and feeling them catch a hilt.

He could tell by the weight of it that it was, a sword, and guessing by the way that the weight felt to him, it was most likely Hazel's _spatha_. He screeched again, alerting Hazel to his presense, and when she looked up, he dropped the weapon towards her.

He repeated this process of finding the Cercopes, for they soon were able to take the weapons to a new hiding place every time he left after getting one of the weapons, and frightening them so he could take a weapon, until all of his allies had their weapons back and only his bow remained.

When he had finally gotten Annabeth her knife back he searched from the sky for the Cercopes. He finally found them rushing toward the Little Tiber, his bow tight in one's grip. He rushed toward them, and when he was no more than five feet above them and twsenty in front of them, he changed back into his normal form.

He dropped to the ground, and the Cercopes tripped over themselves to stop from hitting him. When they both got their footing back, they looked up at him fearfully.

"What are you going to do to us?" one of them asked in a small voice.

"I'm going to teach you to listen, 'cause if you had, this could have been completely avoided," he answered, and then started to change into a bear again.

The Cercopes took their chance to pelt for the river. Frank chased them, but just before they dropped into the water, the Cercopes turned around, triumph on their small faces.

Frank didn't understand it, until he felt a massive force smash into him, throwing him twenty feet back. He stood on shaking legs, and noticed that his fur was soaked. He looked at the monkeys to see a wall of water rising up from the Little Tiber behind them.

"You see demigod, we are not so helpless as you think!" one exclaimed. "Just as your friends father blessed him, so too did ours! We are sons of the ancient seas, when they were wild and covered all the earth around you! You cannot defeat us!"

And with that the wall of water rushed at Frank, but instead of just hitting him, it grabbed him, and in one motion took him under the water of the Little Tiber. He tried to fight his way up, but a constant downward push forced him to stay under. After a little while, he began to feel faint from lack of oxygen. Soon black spots filled his vision, and when he tried to change into a fish, he couldn't get a clear picture of one to form in his mind. Just when he was sure he was going to die, a force from below hit him in the chest, and he felt his body breech the surface of the river, he had time to take one deep gulp before he hit the ground and blacked out.

When he came to, Frank saw that he was surrounded by his friends, all of them looking at him with concern, and Hazel kneeling by his side.

"Frank," she said quietly. "Frank, are you okay?"

Frank tried to say yes, but nothing came out, so he coughed, and then hoarsely said, "Yeah, I'm fine. What happened?"

"Well," Hazel answered quietly, "we came over, and saw those two bastards standing over the Little Tiber, laughing their heads off, and when we saw what they were laughing at…well…," Hazel's voice broke, so Percy took over.

"When we saw what they were laughing at, Hazel tore them apart." He glanced at Hazel, and then whispered to Frank, "I personally think they got off lucky when they died, because, well, you should have seen Hazel, she literally tore them apart in seconds, and I'm sure she would have preferred to make it slow for them."

Hazel had gotten her voice back and continued, "So Percy got you out of the river, but we all thought you were…were…," her voice broke again, and she brought Frank into a hug, balling in his chest. This really hit Frank because, he had never Hazel cry, and hadn't even thought she could. He lightly patted her on the back, until she pulled away. "Anyway, you were out for about ten minutes."

Frank nodded, and they all sat there for a few moments in silence, before Jason said, "I think it's time for us to leave."

Most of them seemed struck by this, but Percy and Annabeth nodded.

"You're right, we need to get out of here now, because Gaea obviously wants to take us out, and if we stay here we're just going to endanger the rest of the camp."

"But we aren't packed, we have no food, and did Percy even get a chance to see if he can control the_ Argo II_?" Piper said.

"There's tons of extra clothes and food in the ship, and well, Percy did you get a chance?" Leo said, looking at Percy.

Percy shook his head, then said, "No, but it doesn't matter, 'cause I always learn best on the job anyway."

Frank grinned, and hoarsely said, "Awesome, road…air…sea…whatever, trip!"

**And so the voyage begins, and don't worry, I've got lots of stuff planned for them to do on the trip. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, 'cause it's fairly long and took me forever to write.**


	13. Frank II

**A/N: Okay, so once again thank you to everyone who reviewed and read the last chapter. I'm happy to see that you like the inclusion of the Cercopes, but on that point I just want to say that I actually found very little on those two. All I could find was the part about Hercules and Zeus, which I could never find what they actually did to him, so a certain amount of the stuff about them is inferred, which I'm sure Riordan is also forced to do with the myths he chooses to feature in his writing. I only tell you guys this because I saw that a few of you intended to look up the myth, and I just wanted to warn you that, I at least, had a hard time finding much about it. Okay, so with that said, let's move on to the story.**

**Disclaimer: Did you guys know that snails can be trained to attack, and move in packs? Actually, don't worry about it, just know that I don't own PJO or HoO, and be careful when you go in a large vegetable garden.**

Frank II

The _Argo II_ was even more impressive on the inside than it was on the outside. The cabins were way nicer in real life than they had looked through the video note thing Leo had sent. There were four cabins and each had a full sized bed, two sets of dressers, a full bathroom, and a fifty-inch TV. Frank didn't know how, but Leo had apparently got some type of magical satellite for the ship, so they could all watch Hephaestus TV whenever they felt like it. He had also added a sparring room, an archer range, and a war room. The most amazing thing about this was that it all somehow fit in half of the interior of the ship because the other half was taken up by the engine, which could take the ship to Mach 15 or something like that. To make it even better, the ship could travel twice as high as most airplanes and, even on the deck, it didn't feel any colder than seventy degrees because of the magical atmosphere Leo had designed for it.

All around it was a pretty awesome ship.

Frank came up from the bowels of the ship to see Percy sitting on one of the benches for the rows. He was looking over the side of the ship, and from the tension in his shoulders, Frank could tell something was bothering him.

"What's up, man?" Frank asked him as he came over.

Percy looked back at him, and, with a jerk of his head, told Frank to look over the side of the ship. What Frank saw nearly made him scream. The ground below them seemed to be boiling, and every once and a while a massive, sleeping face would form and scowl up at them.

"What the hell!" Frank yelled. "Why is Gaea stalking us like that! Doesn't she have any lackeys to do that!"

"Hmm," Percy went. "That hadn't really occurred to me. I was more worried about the way that she's looking at us."

Frank didn't understand what Percy meant, so after a moment's hesitation, he looked over the edge of the ship once more. When Gaea's face formed again, he forced himself to look at it more deeply. It took him a few tries, but he finally saw what Percy was talking about.

He stepped back and gulped. "Her eyes…," he whispered.

"Yeah," Percy agreed. Her eyes were just beginning to open, as if she was just a moment away from getting up, and the smallest disturbance would wake her.

"Didn't Leo say she seemed like she was completely asleep last time he saw her?" Frank asked, his voice shaking slightly.

Percy nodded. "And I saw her a few days ago and she still seemed to be lost in dreamland, which means something's happened to start really waking her up."

"What could it be?" Frank asked.

Percy shrugged and shook his head, and then he sighed. "Gods, can't we ever get a break?" he asked. He looked Frank in the eye then, "Why is it that every time we have to fight a war, we have to fight someone like this? Can't we ever fight something easy, like an army of bunnies? An army of bunnies wouldn't be bad, hell, it'd probably be kinda of cute. They'd be using sharpened carrots, and would throw cabbages at us. I mean all we'd have to do would—."

"Alright Percy, back to the real world," Frank interrupted, seeing Percy's face starting to go blank like it did whenever he got lost in his memories, or, apparently, daydreamed.

"Right," Percy said, blushing slightly because of his loss of focus. "Do you think we can do anything about it?" he asked, looking at the boiling ground again.

"I doubt it," Frank said, also looking at the ground as Gaea's barely sleeping face stared up at them. "I think our only chance is to stop the Giants before Gaea completely wakes up, and hope she falls back into a deep sleep."

Percy rolled his eyes, "Yeah, that's probably gonna work, 'cause everybody knows we have that good of luck."

Frank snorted in agreement. "So we're basically screwed," he said.

Percy stood then. "Yep," he agreed, "but we're always basically screwed, so I guess it's not that much different than usual." He started walking toward the door to the interior of the _Argo II_ then, patting Frank reassuringly on the shoulder as he did.

Frank shook his head, wondering how Percy could so easily come to terms with the fact that they were teetering on edge of destruction. He turned away from the ship's edge then and started toward the front of the ship.

"How's it going?" he asked Leo who was at the wheel right then.

Leo glanced at him and said, "Better than any other trip I've gone on. Who knows, maybe we're far enough from the ground that Gaea won't have any chance to get us."

"Did you notice her/" Frank asked.

Leo nibbled on his lip and nodded. "Percy pointed her out to me, too," he said. "But like I said, we should be fine up here."

"How long can the ship stay in the air?" Frank asked, sure there must be a limit.

"She can last long enough to make it to the sea, where we should be safe," Leo said, and then added, "or at least safer than here."

"At least until we meet that monster Percy mentioned," Frank said, bring it up for the first time since they had heard about it.

Leo gave a grunt. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there." Frank nodded, knowing that none of them could possible deal with it until they knew what the monster was.

Leo glanced at Frank again and asked, "So what's up between you and Hazel, man?"

Frank's fingers went cold as he thought over that particular problem. "I have no idea," he sighed. "One minute everything's going great, and then, I don't know, she just started avoiding me."

Leo glanced at him again. "Maybe she's afraid that you'll try to find another girl. I mean you do have more options than most people," he joked half-heartedly.

Frank forced a small smile. "Yeah, maybe that's it." He sighed then. "It doesn't really matter though. Thantos basically told me I'm not gonna make it through this quest, so maybe if she distances herself from me, it'll make it easier for her to get over me."

Leo snorted then. "Yeah, that's gonna happen," he said sarcastically. "You didn't see her when she thought you were dead, man. Trust me, whatever's going on, she has _no _intention of ending things with you and you talking about dying isn't gonna be easy on her."

Frank smiled sadly. "Thanks man, I needed that. Well maybe not _that_ specifically, but, well, you know what I mean."

Leo smiled at him. "Totally, dude. Anytime you need some help, just come and see Dr. Leo, working hours are 12 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday thru Friday."

Frank chuckled slightly. "Yeah, I'll be sure to use you from now on _doctor_."

"Good," Leo said smiling. The two stood in silence there for a few moments before a line of deep blue came into view at the edge of the horizon. It only took them a few seconds before they were flying over the sea, and Leo tilted the wheel slightly. The ship mirrored the motion and began to fly toward the sea in a control descent. Before long, the _Argo II _had smoothly landed, and, with the press of a button under a panel on the center of the wheel, Leo had retracted the ships wings. He soon pressed another button and about headless torsos with arms rose out of the benches, and, grasping the oars before them, started to quickly push the _Argo II _forward.

"Yes!" Leo exclaimed. "She stuck the landing! And now on to our next stop, Rome!"

**Alrighty then, this is where this chapter ends. Sorry about the lack of action, but it was kind of a filler chapter, and it seemed like a good place to put in that part about Gaea, which will have a bigger part to play later, and to show a bit of Leo and Frank together. Hope you all enjoyed it, 'cause next chapters going to have a fight in it, and a team up that I've been planning for a while.**


	14. Leo I

**A/N: Alright, so sorry to all of you about the super long break, I was, and still am reading the new book by Christopher Paolini, so I'm basically forcing myself to write this right now, to be fair to all of you. So thank all of you for your reviews, and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, because it's gonna be in my personal favorite character's POV, Leo. Now on to the story.**

**Disclaimer: *The British are coming! The British are coming! Oh wait…it's just few gnomes riding rabbits.* *Walks up to nearest rabbit* *Well aren't you just adorable! Hey, let go off that! No! No! That isn't supposed to go there!* *Incoherent yells* *What are you talking about!* *More incoherent yells* *Fine! Fine, I'll say it.* *Pained sobs* I don't own PJO or HoO.**

Leo I

_…Other brothers can't deny _

_ That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist_

_ And a round…_

To say Leo was getting a little off task was an understatement. He had been standing at the wheel for about three hours now, singing every song he could think of to himself. He knew that he should be paying better attention to the task before him, but his ADHD was acting up, and he had seen that he either had to do this or think back to all the hotties he had seen at Camp Jupiter. He done that for about ten minutes when he started remembering all the slaps he had gotten because he'd made an innocent comment concerning a donkey he had seen, and he starting worrying that he'd end up curled in a ball, again, because of it. For some reason that didn't really appeal to him right then. He knew he had a third option, but he _really _didn't want to turn to that one, so he just kept singing.

"'So, Fellas! Yeah! Fellas! Yeah! Has your girlfriend got the butt! Hell yeah! Tell 'em to shake it!" Leo started loudly singing.

"Leo?" someone asked.

"Shake it! Shake it! Shake it!" he continued, not having heard the voice.

"Leo? Leo!" they yelled again.

"Shake that healthy butt! Baby got back!" Leo sang, then he felt someone smacking him upside the head. "Ow!" he exclaimed, while turning around. He saw Percy walking away from him looking at Piper.

"Next time you need to get his attention, just call me. It seems like he needs a little wake up call every once and a while anyway," Percy told her before heading back down into the bowels of the ship.

Leo turned back around, and grumbled a few things about the son of the sea god. The ship gave a lurch and Leo slammed his head into the steering wheel. "Alright, sorry, sheesh," he said to the air.

He heard Piper chuckle behind him. He turned around again to see him standing a few feet behind him. "How's it going, Lug Nut?" she asked.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Lug Nut?" he asked.

She shrugged. "What? I'm working on it. Would you prefer I call you Repair Boy for the rest of your life?" she asked again.

Leo shook his head, turned around, and grumbled a few choose words abou the beauty queen behind him. He felt a sharp pain on the back of his head, which was knocked into the wheel again by the force of the push.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed again, quickly turning around, looking for the source of the push. He saw a small, pure-white bird glaring at him. "Oh dear lord!" he exclaimed. "Fine, I'm sorry! Just stop hitting me guys! Gods, can't even grumble to myself anymore, can I?" he said.

Piper chuckled again. "Maybe you should stop being so grumpy, then our parents would leave you alone." Leo gave a noncommittal grunt in response. "You really are grumpy, aren't you?" she marveled.

He looked at her. "You try getting knocked out of your very enjoyable singing, of a song that is a gift to humanity, might I add, by the son of the sea god, and see how happy you are afterward." Piper chuckled again, and Leo felt his annoyance melting away.

"Well, if you're feeling a little less put out because Percy didn't enjoy your _fantastic _taste in music, will you answer my question? How's it going?" she asked, again.

Leo rolled his eyes. "It's going fine, I guess. It's kinda hard to tell, because once you're completely out of sight of land, the sea doesn't change much, unless you hit a storm," he answered.

Piper nodded. "It could be worse," she said, "We could be dealing with a monster, or worse, Gaea, right now, so I suggest you just enjoy the reprieve."

Leo looked at her. "Way to jinx us, beauty queen!" he exclaimed. "Now I bet some giant ouster comes up and tries to eat us."

"I'm pretty sure there's no giant ousters in Greek mythology," Piper answered him.

"Yeah, I bet you would've said the same thing about talking, water controlling monkeys, too," he retorted. She snorted.

They stood in silence for a minute before Piper said, "If you're getting bored of driving the ship, I'm sure Percy would be more than willing to take over for a while."

Leo pursed his lips. "I don't know," he said, cautiously, "I mean he never got to work with it. The _Argo II_ might not respond to him right."

"You know what Annabeth told him he could do with a pirate ship, I'm sure he'll be able to handle an Ancient Greek trireme just as well," she looked at Leo for a second, before her voice gained a musical lilt to it. "You need rest anyway. Come on Leo, it'll be fine."

Leo smiled at her vaguely, and then said, "Well, I guess you're right. It's not like he can break it or anything." Piper nodded and Leo raised his voice, saying, "Percy!" He came up to the deck, looking curious. "Can you take over steering the ship for a while?" Percy hesitated a moment, then shrugged and took the wheel.

Leo looked at him for a moment, and saw that he looked to be at complete ease as he stood at the wheel. Percy turned to him, seeming a little surprised that Leo was still there and said, "It's cool man, I've got this. The ship isn't any hard to control than the _Queen Anne's Revenge_ had been, it's just got a few more gadgets," Leo snorted at that, but he still hesitated. "Listen," Percy told him, "either you walk down those stairs to your room, or I'll throw you down there." Leo chuckled slightly and headed down the steps.

He headed into the room that he was sharing with Jason, and laid on his full bed. He laid back for a moment, trying to get to sleep, but eventually gave up, and instead turned on the T.V.

He was surprised to see that it wasn't play one of the shows from Hephaestus TV, but actually _South Park _**(Sorry, I realize that's random, but it just seems like a show Leo would watch, plus I have a funny thing planned for it in this chapter.)**. Leo thought about changing the channel for a minute, but then decided that he might as wellwatch it. He ended up laughing pretty quickly after Kenny died, because for some reason, it was funny when it happened to the little cartoon character, even though it was way less funny when he and his friends were close to dying.

Before Leo knew it, an hour, and then two had passed. He looked at the clock on the nightstand and started when he saw that he'd been watching TV for four hours. _Stupid ADHD_, he thought,_ Always screwing with my head. I swear, if I ever find the God of ADHD, I'm gonna punch him right in the ovary_** (Again, sorry. That just seems like something Leo would say to me, and a couple of my friends and I make that joke sometimes.)**. Leo stood up and headed back up toward the deck to see that everyone else was already there.

"What's up, guys?" he asked. "Are you all throwing me a surprise party?" he exclaimed. Piper looked at him like he was insane, while Hazel giggled silently, and Percy and Jason just shook their heads with small smiles on their faces.

"No, Leo," Frank told him, "We're looking at that." He pointed toward the sea where there was a large shadow under the surface.

"What is it?" Leo asked, serious now. He gulped. "Could it be that monster your dad was talking about?" he asked, directing the question at Percy.

He shrugged. "Maybe, but I doubt it," he said, and then added. "It's big, but it doesn't seem big enough to mess with my dad."

The waves increased in size around the ship, which Leo took to mean that either Poseidon agreed, or he was having a seizure. Leo decided to go with the first choice.

"Well, I guess that's great, but can you tell your dad to knock off the rocking, 'cause, if he doesn't, I'll be hella sick," Leo said.

Jason frowned. "What did you say, Leo?" he asked.

"Make the shaking stop!" he exclaimed, as the waves increased in size.

Percy smiled, then murmured something, and the waves shrank. "Took you long enough," he muttered, and water arced out of the sea and hit him in the face. "Really!" he yelled, moving to the center of the deck. "You know Poseidon, you're being hella gay!" he yelled. The boat shook again.

"Dad!" Percy yelled. "Stop!" The shaking stopped again, but the water seemed darker, like the sea god was still a miffed.

"You know Percy your dad is hella crazy," Leo said, and water hit him in the face again, causing him to curse.

"Leo, why do you keep saying that?" Jason asked.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Hella," Jason answered, sounding a little annoyed.

"'Cause I want to," Leo answered.

"Well stop," Jason said.

"No," Leo answered.

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!" Jason yelled, drawing his _gladius_.

"Jason, calm down, you're being hella crazy," Leo said.

"Leo if you say that again…" Jason threatened.

"I wouldn't have to say it if you weren't acting so hella crazy right now," Leo said, enjoying himself.

"Leo if you say that again, I'm gonna throw you over the edge of this boat," Jason growled.

"Just stop being so hel—," Leo started to say, but was then interrupted by a loud screeching sound.

He looked over and saw something that made his heart skip a beat. Rising out of the water about twenty feet in front of the _Argo_ was a massive lobster. It was a nasty, snot gray and over a huindred feet long. Both of its pincers were easily ten feet long and looked razor sharp, and it was staring at them with angry, black eyes. But worst of all, it was racing toward the _Argo_ at highway speeds.

It smashed into the front of the ship, forcing it back and sending all of them toppling. Leo smacked his head on the floor of the deck, he saw bright yellow stars, and thought he might have even seen a little canary circling his head. He curled in to a ball and waited for his eyes to stop vibrating. It took a moment, but when they did, he stood up groggily, expecting to see bits of the lobster stuck on the front of his ship. That isn't what he saw.

Luckily the ship was fine, save a few chips falling off some of the bronze plating at the prow, but the lobster seemed pretty fine too. Apparently, Leo wasn't the first person to have gotten up, because Jason and Percy were slashing vigorously at the claws that came slamming at them. Each time they swung at the claws, they made contact, but the creatures shell was obviously too strong for them to get through because the blades would glance harmlessly off its carapace.

"Leo!" Annabeth yelled at him, causing him to look back. He saw her charging at the lobster, glaring at him the whole way. "Don't just stand there! Help!"

It took a moment for Leo to register her words but when he did, he stuck his hand in the tool belt around his waist, asking it for a hammer. He came out with a large hammer that old European blacksmiths would've used. He looked at it for a fraction of a second, and then yelled charging toward the monster. By then all of his friends had gotten up and were charging toward the monster. They all reached it quickly and started slashing, or banging, at it, but none of their attacks made so much as a scratch on the monsters hard shell.

They stayed that way for minutes, attacking the monster ineffectively, before Annabeth swore and said, "It's no good! We're gonna have to try using our powers! Piper do what you can to distract it, and Leo, Jason, and Percy, kill the damn thing!"

They all jumped back from the monster, Piper yelling at it to distract it. Leo couldn't make out what she said, but it seemed to work because the monster stop attacking them for a moment and looked around itself. Leo conjured up fire in his hands and sent a smoking blast of it at the beats, while Jason yelled and a thunderbolt hit the creature, and Percy twisted his hand, causing a waterspout to come out of the sea and smash into the monster. None of the attacks even fazed the monstrosity.

Percy swore. "How do we kill this thing?" he yelled.

"Maybe if we had a big bowl of melted butter!" Jason said.

Leo stiffened, an idea coming to him. "That's it!" he exclaimed, and the other two looked at him. "Percy can you raise that thing into the air in a bubble?" Leo asked.

Percy's eyebrows knit together. "Probably, but why?"

"Cause we're going to make boiled lobster!" Leo said excitedly. Percy grinned, glancing at Jason, who gave a similar reaction.

"Leo, you're a genius," he said. Percy turned away then and raised his arms, his eyes closed. A huge bubble of water rose up out of the sea, the lobster in the center of it, squeling in surprise. Leo raised his own arms, bright red flames coming to life around them. He sent a searing blast of continuous flames toward the bubble, forcing them to stop under it and foce their heat into the water. It started to steam and slowly, small bubbles of air began to rise toward the top. The lobster screeched in pain. Leo fell to one knee, as did Percy, and his flames turned from red to bright orange.

"Jason!" he yelled. "Stoke the flames!"

Jason nodded, and raised his arms. A blast of air rushed toward the flames under the bubble, and they grew in size. Soon the bubble was boiling vigorously, the lobster screeching bloody murder. Then, with one more, ear piercing screeching, the lobster fell silent, and stopped jerking in the bubble.

Leo let his arms drop, the flames stopped blasting toward the monster, even as Percy lowered his arms, causing the bubble to drop back into the seam and Jason dropped his, causing the wind to stop blowing. They all walked toward the monsters shell, which had turned bright red due to the boiling. As they watched, its eyes dissolved into dust, and more dust started to come out of the cracks between the creatures segments as it dissolved inside.

"Uhg," Leo groaned, staring at the particles of dust, "that is hella nasty.'

"Leo, seriously, stop," Jason said.

Leo looked at him. "You know Jason, I was wrong. You're not hella crazy, you're just hella gay."

Jason sighed and looked at Leo. "That's it, man," he said, "you're going over the edge."

**Okay, and this marks the end of this chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it.**


	15. Leo II

**A/N: Before I get to the chapter, I would like to apologize for the long break. I had a ton of homework this week, which I put off from last week, and I'm still trying to finish Paolini's book. So, with that out of the way, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, or read this story at all, and say that I'm really happy you all enjoyed last chapter. Alright, onto the Leo-ness.**

**Disclaimer: The Tarot cards say I shall not gain the rights to PJO or HoO in the near future, and I should watch out for anvils, so I own nothing.**

Leo II

After Jason had thrown Leo over the side of the ship, and Percy had gotten him out of the water, when he stopped laughing, Leo began wondering how long into would take him to make an endoscope. Leo was really starting to worry how far that stick had drifted up Jason's ass.

He sat on the deck, a towel wrapped around his shoulders and water dripping from his hair. Every once and a while Percy would turn to look back at him and try to stifle a laugh.

"Why didn't you stop him you jerk?" Leo asked, for about the thousandth time.

"I didn't think I should get in-involved," Percy said, his voice wavering as he stopped a chuckle.

"Can't you at least dry me off?" Leo pleaded.

Percy shrugged. "Probably, but you won't learn anything that way."

"What is being wet supposed to teach me?" Leo asked, slightly annoyed.

"I don't know. Some crap about knowing when to control yourself, or not taunt the son of the lord of the sky." Percy answered.

"That's complete crap!" Leo exclaimed.

"Yeah," Percy answered, "that's why I said it was."

"You are just the worst kind of person," Leo grumbled.

Percy shrugged, again. "Maybe, but at least I know when to keep my mouth shut."

"How about you do that now before I find out if you cook better grilled or fried," Leo threatened.

Percy laughed.

About an hour passed before Leo and his clothes had finally dried completely, mostly because he consciously heated himself. When they had, Leo stood and, directing his words at Percy, said, "I'm gonna go into the ship."

Percy waved his hand over his shoulder dismissively, wordlessly saying that he was fine up here.

Leo started toward the door, which opened soundlessly, and descended once more into the bowels of the _Argo II_. He started toward his room, intending to take a nap because he was still tired from their fight with the lobster, but changed his mind at the last second. He veered to the right and strode toward a small door at the far end of the corridor that he had turned down. The exterior of the ship was deceptive, and the interior was very extensive, having multiple hallways, rooms, and storage areas, for a number of projects Leo was working on.

The room Leo walked into was one of these storage areas. In it was Leo's favorite project, and the one he hoped would help them the most. He had started working on it to blow of some steam when he became aggravated while building the _Argo II_, but kept working on it when he noticed how helpful it could be. It was based on something that Annabeth had told him about from her and Percy's first quest. It was a working model of the master bolt. Or at least that's what Leo had intended it to be. It looked more like an old Colt revolver, like from the Old West, but it was seriously dangerous. When Leo had first used the gun, he had blown himself off his feet and melted a huge hole through the side of Bunker 9. But what the weapon had really given him was an idea for something way bigger. He kept working on the gun; he eventually got rid of the kick entirely, and was able to stabilize the bolt it shot so that it could melt a small hole all the way through Half-Blood Hill. After he had done that, he had started work on the other guns. What sat before him now were five completed guns and two guns, which were nearing completion.

Leo stuck his hand out and grasped a gun with a red-orange grip. He stepped to the window he had built into this particular room and opened it. Sticking the gun's barrel out of the window, he pulled the trigger. A thin bolt of bright blue flame shot out of the end of the gun and traveled at least a quarter mile before it began to cool and then dissipate.

Leo looked back at the other guns, each of which with a different colored grip: one sea green, another electric blue, another storm gray, another a subdued red, like a rose, another shiny gold, and the last blood red.

He intended to give them to his friends as soon as he finished them, and he had made each one to fit with both their powers and personalities as best he could, and he thought they might be able to give them an edge. It had taken him the better part of three months to make the first five, Percy's he had to change after he had met him, but Hazel's and Frank's were already nearly done because he had become so good at making the weapons.

He looked at the guns for a moment longer before he stepped toward them and grabbed the gold gripped gun and the blood red one. He then stepped from the room, concealing the weapons as best he could, and started the forging room.

He spent the better part of two hours in the room. He had to forge very few pieces for the guns, but the rifling in the barrels had taken him about an hour to do correctly, and the magically applications to the weapons had taken him nearly as long, but when he was done, he felt proud of the guns.

He walked out of the forging room and walked briskly toward the room where the other guns were stored. When he got inside, he placed the two now completed guns with their brethren, and looked at them for a few seconds. He felt pride welling up inside him, and thought that his mom would have been proud of him if she could see what he had made, even if she didn't like what they would have to be used for. He shook his head and searched the floor for the case that he had quickly put together a few weeks ago. He had kept the guns in there for the most part, but he hadn't had time to put them back last time he had finished working on them. He now stored them all carefully into the case, along with the holsters he had fashioned when he made the case, and started toward the stairs to the upper deck, with the case in his hands when he felt the ship lurch.

For a second he thought they were being attacked again, but when he didn't hear anything he decided it must have just been a big wave or something. That was before he heard Percy scream, "Leo! Get up here!"

Leo dropped the case, deciding it'd be safest inside the ship for the time being, and the sprinted toward the stairs to the deck.

When he got up there, he saw Percy staring at him, his face was ashen, and his body was noticeably shaking.

"What is i—?" Leo started to ask, but was cut off by Percy.

"Get us in the air now!" he yelled.

"Why?" Leo asked, scared by the look in Percy's eyes.

He gulped, and his breathing increased. He looked like he might be sick. "Because something's coming," he said, shakily. "Something bigger than Typhon. Now get us in the air! As high as you can, as fast as you can!"

Leo didn't hesitate he ran toward the wheel, and lifting the panel, pressed a button to raise the _Argo II_'s wings. They unfolded and rose in the air like a bird's wings. With a might flap, they came toward the water and pushed the ship into the air. They continued doing that as the others came onto the deck, all of them asking what was wrong.

"What's up, Percy?"

"Why are we flying, again?"

"Do you need to sit down? You don't look so good."

"Do you need a change of pants? You like you might have had an accident."

Leo turned around and saw Percy shaking his, still rooted to the spot he had been in earlier. He pointed toward the rails of the ship and said, "Look."

They all rushed to the edge of the ship and looked over, even Leo, and what they saw made them all feel like Percy felt.

Rising up from the bottom of the sea was a shadow, a massive shadow that none of them could see the end of, even though the _Argo II_ was now at two hundred feet into the air. As they continued watching, the sea at the very edge of their vision bulged and a massive slate gray _thing _started to rise from the sea. It was as wide as the Empire State Building, and even as they watched, it continued to rise, quickly, easily reaching the height of the _Argo II _in a matter of seconds. Looking around they saw more such towers rising from the sea, and they all started curving inward, their intent clear. They were going to catch the _Argo II_.

"What is it?" Frank asked his voice small and frightened.

Leo heard someone gulp and looked to see Annabeth. "I-it's the K-k-kraken," she stammered, obviously in awe of the thing beneath them.

By then Percy had come over to where they all were. Leo looked at him and saw that his shock had disappeared and had been replaced by fury.

"I don't give a _damn_ what it is," he growled, and then looked at them all. "We're gonna take that thing out." He paused then. "I am _not _letting something like that stay in the sea."

Leo agreed that it needed to be killed, but he was wondering how exactly they were going to kill something that was big enough to make them seem like bacteria. That washed away from him as he looked at the towers rising from the ocean, realizing they were actually the massive tentacles of a squid, and his was overcome by a burning hatred of the—the—the _abomination _below him. One way or another, they were going to kill this thing.

**Alright, so that's the end of this chapter. I'll give you three guesses about what next chapters going to be about. Okay, hope you all enjoyed this, even if it was kind of a filler chapter.**


	16. Jason III

**A/N: Oh yeah! We've made it full circle! This chapter is going to be Jason, and the seven are going to fight the Kraken, though the fight might last multiple chapters. But before we get there, I have to say a few things, partially to torture you. First, to fayfayzee, **_**Inheritance **_**is great, it's a little sad, but also one of the best stories I've ever read. I won't say anything about it, in case anyone is reading it now or is intending to read it, but I definitely recommend it. Secondly, in case anyone was wondering, the pistols won't come into play in the story until later, they just kind of came as a moment of inspiration yesterday, so I'm going to have to find where they can fit into the story, and, fair warning, when they do come in, they might be a little gruesome, but you'll all see why later. Alright, sorry about that, and thank you to everyone who reviewed, no onto the story.**

**Disclaimer: *No! No! Not Justin Beiber! Don't make me listen to anymore of that! I'll do anything you want!* I don't own *sniffle* PJO or HoO.**

Jason III

Jason hoped Leo had lots of extra pairs of pants packed for everyone, 'cause, from what he could see of the Kraken, they were going to have need of some new pants soon. The tentacles were already over a mile into the sky, and they didn't seem like they would stop rising anytime soon. Luckily, the Kraken didn't seem to have the best reflexes, so the _Argo II _had been able to evade the tentacles that would come rushing at them. Jason flinched as one of the towers of flesh whipped by him, less than a half a foot from his face. As it did, he noticed in the back of his mind that it was covered in millions of scales that seemed oddly familiar to him.

"Jason!" he heard Leo yell. "Get the hell away from there and keep these things away from us while we get higher!" Jason nodded, and gathering his wits used his will over the wind to force one of the columns away from the ship. He couldn't push it more than a couple inches, but it was enough to keep the tentacle from slamming into the ship. Jason knew that he wasn't the only one trying to keep the Kraken at bay while they got to a safe height. Percy was using his power over the sea to screw with the monsters head, Frank had dove into the water, and turned into a giant sea serpent to keep its attention occupied, though Jason knew he would have to get back onto the ship soon, and Piper was busy trying to lull the monster into a daze.

Jason knew that everything they were doing was barely even affecting the monster, and the only reason they'd made it this long was because of Leo, Annabeth, and Hazel. Leo was able to make the sharpest turns possible with the ship, skirting the tentacles when anyone else would've slammed straight into them, Annabeth was able to guess where the monster was going to strike long before it did more often than not, and Hazel was able to cause the ship to actually bend because of the metals that Leo had used when building the _Argo II_.

Even with all of them doing this, Jason had no idea how much longer they would be able to evade the monster. Already, they'd nearly been smashed to pieces by one of the Kraken's massive tentacles, and if not for some freak eddy in the sea's currents, it would've crushed them.

Jason heard a noise behind him of anger and impatience. "That's it!" he heard Percy exclaim. "Keep that thing occupied for a minute Jason," he said, then yelled over the side of the boat. "Frank! Get up here!" It took a moment, but with a huge splash, Jason saw a massive green serpent break the surface of the water, and change into an eagle as it flew toward the _Argo II_.

It reached them in no time, easily evading the massive tentacles waving about it, and alit upon the deck, before shifting into the familiar, bulky form of Frank. "What?" he asked, looking at Percy. "I could've stayed down there 'till you guys were another mile into the air and been fine, why call me up now?"

"'Cause I'm gonna get this thing the hell away from us, right now," Percy growled, his eyes flashing as he saw one of the tentacles streak past the ship again. "Leo!" he roared. "Get ready to get us up as high as possible!"

Leo glanced back at him for a second, then nodded and said, "Fine. Everybody brace yourselves!" he yelled, and yanked back on the wheel, until the ship's front was pointed straight toward the sky. Jason gripped the rail in front of him with him, and saw everyone else do the same, except Percy, who kept one hand out in front of him.

His eyes seemed to burn, and Jason saw that they were actually glowing slightly. He raised his hand and Jason heard a strange roaring noise coming from the water below them. He thought the Kraken might have finally risen from the deep, and looked over the side of the ship to see if that was what had happened. What he saw was way scarier. A massive, hundred feet tall bulge was coming out of the sea, right over the center of the Kraken's head. Jason looked at Percy to see his face bright red, and scrunched with concentration as he held the sea above itself.

With obvious effort he yelled, "Now!" and brought his hand forcefully downward. Jason heard a thud from below, and looking over the side of the ship, saw a depression several hundred feet deep forcing the monster down. Even as this happened Jason heard a roar from behind them, and felt a force pull him back as the _Argo II _rushed straight up at supersonic speed. When the Kraken had been forced down, its gigantic tentacles had parted above them, and they now rushed straight between the yawning gaps that had opened there.

They rushed upward for maybe twenty seconds before they came to an abrupt stop roughly five miles above the sea. Even as they stopped, the _Argo II _leveled out all at once and Jason fell forward, as did all of the others.

"Ow," he heard someone moan, and looked over to see Leo on the ground, his hand on his forehead. "Oh, for gods' sake!" he exclaimed. "How many times have I been hit in the head on this trip already?"

"I stopped caring after that dove beat the crap out of you," he heard someone else groan out, and looked over to see Piper getting shakily to her feet.

"Uhg, I thought we agreed your ideas suck back when we were twelve Seaweed Brain," Jason heard Annabeth say. He looked over to see her standing over Percy, who was still on the ground. "Come on Seaweed Brain, it's time to get up," she said as she grabbed his shoulder. He didn't stir. "Percy come on I'm serious," she said, worry creeping into her voice as she shook Percy's shoulder. "Percy. Percy. Percy!" she yelled shaking him. He didn't stir once.

Jason rushed over to him and flipped him over. Percy's eyes were closed and his skin was deathly pale. He put his ear to Percy's chest, but couldn't hear a heart beat or feel him breathing. Jason's felt his fingers lose feeling and his stomach sink with dread.

"He-he's not breathing," Jason forced out. He shook his head, and was about to give Percy CPR when he felt someone push him out of the way. He was stunned for a second when he saw that Annabeth had been the one who pushed him. He wondered why until he saw that _she_ had already started to give Percy CPR.

She had her mouth over his, and it looked almost like she was kissing him, but she quickly moved to pushing on his chest forcefully. "Come on, Seaweed Brain," she murmured. "Don't you _dare_ die on me. Not after all that's happened." Jason looked at her face and saw tears running down her cheeks. She kept pushing on a chest for a moment more before she pinched his nose closed and forced air into his lungs again.

She repeated the process for so long, Jason started to think that it was hopeless, and he felt his throat tighten, when Percy gave a violent cough and began gulping air.

His eyelids opened quickly, and his eyes had the same fear that a deer's eyes had when caught in the headlights. Annabeth cried out and embraced Percy, whose expression changed to confusion momentarily, until he must have realized what had happened and embraced Annabeth too.

She sobbed into his shoulder for a moment, and the tears surprised and embarrassed Jason, so he turned away from the pair. "If you do anything that stupid ever again…," he heard Annabeth say.

"What? You'll kill me?" Percy said, his voice sounded hoarse, like he had been sick. Annabeth made a noise that seemed to be something between a sob and a laugh. Jason looked at the pair for a moment before he got his senses back. He stepped toward Percy, taking the small canteen he carried with him everywhere out, and offer it to him.

"Here," he said. "It's nectar, and well, you look like you could use some." Percy looked at it for a second, obviously still dazed, then grabbed it. He opened it and took a big gulp, but then gasped as the godly drink burned through his veins. After that, he made sure to take smaller sips, until he had drained the canteen. By the time he had, his color had returned, along with a slight red tint, almost he had just run a mile, and his eyes seemed more focused.

"Thanks," he told Jason, his voice back normal. He then walked over to the railing and looked down at the sea below. Jason followed, after see Percy's expression.

What he saw was worse than anything he could have ever expected. He could finally see the full size of the creature, and it was bigger than he had ever thought. From where the ship was in the sky, Jason felt like he was seeing an island as big a Manhattan float along, just under the surface of the ocean. "How long is it?"

"At least ten miles," he heard Annabeth say beside him. He looked over to see her studying it. "I'm guessing we're just high enough to stay out of range of its tentacles, but it might still be able to reach us."

Jason looked down at the shape below them, and felt his throat go dry. "How the hell are we supposed to kill that thing?" he asked, truly afraid of a monster for the first time in his life.

"No idea," he heard Percy say. Jason looked in his face and saw hatred burning in his eyes as he stared at the island below them. "But we _are _going to kill it," he growled. "If it's the last thing we do, we're going to kill that thing."

**Okay that ends this chapter. The battle continues next chapter, and we'll learn just how bad the Kraken is, because its size isn't the only thing that it's got going for it. So, peace. And, p.s., for anyone who cares, I'm probably going to be starting a story for the **_**Inheritance Cycle **_**soon. **


	17. Jason IV

**A/N: So, I'm glad to see none of you are considering killing me for almost offing Percy last chapter, but I felt like a little drama should be added to the story, even if I'm not all that big a fan of drama myself. Next, I feel the need to say this, the other things the Kraken can do, which I mentioned at the end of last chapter, isn't exactly destructive, in fact it's got more to do with physiology, but you guys will see what I mean in a minute. And to fayfayzee, I thought **_**Inheritance **_**was the best book in the series, and most people who don't like it are really just talking about the end, which went the way it was supposed to, but that no one really wanted it to. Okay, once again sorry about that, but I have to say at least a few things as the author, so thank you for the reviews and now on to the story.**

**Disclaimer: *It's Friday, Friday! Gotta get down on Friday!* *Shut up!* *Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend!* *God, I will **_**kill **_**you!* *Friday, Friday!* *That's it! I'm getting the shotgun!* While I have the moment, I don't own PJO or HoO. *Getting' down on Frid—!* ***_**Blam! Blam!**_*** *…Ah, blessed silence* *—ay! Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend!* *Ahhhhhhhh!***

Jason IV

Jason was sitting cross-legged on the deck of the _Argo II_, with the wind blowing in his hair. The air felt warm even though Jason and his friends were miles in the air, and Jason felt way better high in the air than he ever did on the sea. All in all, Jason was feeling really good. Or, at least, he would be feeling good if he didn't know that an island-sized monster that wanted to eat them for a snack wasn't floating along below them. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more Jason realized the entire situation kind of sucked, or really sucked, or sucked harder than getting his memories stolen and thrown into a world of enemies. Yeah, that last one seemed like a pretty good comparison.

Jason shook himself. The conversation had been fading in and out of focus for him, seeing as it was mostly just Percy and Annabeth arguing at this point.

"Just let me go down there and whup that squid's ass!" Percy said, for about the thousandth time.

"Percy, you nearly died just pushing that thing, do you really think you can kill it?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, if you'd just let me try…" Percy said.

"And get eaten?" Annabeth asked sarcastically. "'Cause, no offence, but that things the size of Manhattan, and do you really think you could destroy Manhattan on your own?"

"Humph," Percy sighed, then relented. "Fine, then how do you propose we kill this thing?"

Annabeth smiled. "I'm glad you asked," she said, "But, truth be told, I don't have any ideas."

"Well, that's wonderful!" Percy exclaimed, and then stood up and started walking toward the rail. "Okay, so while you thin k about it, I'm gonna go down there and teach that bottom feeder who's boss."

"Wait Percy, I don't have any _ideas _on how to kill it, I _know _how to kill it," she said. Percy hesitated, and then turned around and sat in his original place, looking at Annabeth intently. "But before I tell you guys, you need to know exactly what the Kraken is capable of."

"And how would you know anything about it?" Frank asked, speaking up for the first time since the conversation had started.

Annabeth smiled knowingly. "I read about it," she said. Percy gave a noise of exasperation, and Annabeth glared at him until he looked down, like a kid being told off by his mom. "In a book written by a descendant of Apollo," she finished.

"Octavian wrote a book?" Frank exclaimed.

Annabeth gave him a look. "Nnnooooo," she said, dragging the word out, "it was written by a man by the name of H.P. Lovecraft."

This was met by an astounding amount of silence, because no one seemed to know who the hell this guy was, until Frank asked, "How did you know about him if he was a descendant? I mean all those guys go to Camp Jupiter, don't they?"

Annabeth nodded, and said, "Yes, there are no descendants at Camp Half-Blood, but we do still know about them, Chiron just doesn't have the time to teach demigods and the descendants of demigods how to defend themselves." Frank nodded and let her go on. "But Lovecraft was a distant descendant of Apollo, and Hades, which explains his love for horror, and he got premonitions in his dreams. The problem was that he didn't know that he was a descendant of the gods, and his visions were fuzzy at best, but if you can figure them out you can learn a lot, maybe even more than if you were to figure out an oracle's prophecy."

"That's all great Annabeth, but could you get to the point, 'cause I'm guessing biggin down there is getting hungry, and a bunch of demigods must seem like a really good snack to him," Leo said, his expression worried.

Annabeth nodded, "Anyway, Lovecraft wrote tons of short stories, and one of his most famous was called 'The Call of Cthulhu,' which was about a giant sea monster."

"Great, well now that we've got that covered, can you tell me how to kill that squid, 'cause just knowing he's down there is pissing me off," Percy said, which caused Annabeth to glare at him again.

"Anyway," Annabeth said, irritation in her voice, "Cthulhu was a giant monster with a body like a human, or a really messed up person, with a skin-disease, and the head of an octopus—," she said, when Percy cut her off again.

"I thought we were talking about a squid?" he said, his voice slowly fading away as he saw the look Annabeth was giving him.

"I'm getting to that," she said, obviously annoyed now, "if you would just let me finish." She took a quick, calming breath, and then continued. "As I said before, Lovecraft's premonitions were fuzzy at best, and he would mix monsters together in them sometimes, so Cthulhu was actually one of these mixtures, and "The Call of Cthulhu" was actually one long, hidden prophecy."

At this point Jason just couldn't contain himself. "You mean we're going to have to face another giant sea-monster, other than the Kraken?" he exclaimed.

Annabeth quickly shook her head. "No, Cthulhu was a mixture of the Kraken and Typhon."

"Oh, well, that's much better," Jason muttered.

"The story has a few prophetic parts to it," Annabeth continued, ignoring Jason, "and most of them have already happened. The first is a simple line from it that says 'that is not dead which can eternal lie, yet with strange aeons even death may die.' This, put simply, is talking about the dead coming back through the doors of death, which come up to, 'cause when Cthulhu is released, he goes through a giant set of doors, and I think these probably represent the Doors of Death."

"That seems like a stretch," Piper said.

Annabeth shrugged. "Well, it does fit, doesn't it?" Annabeth asked, and after a moment's hesitation, Piper nodded. "But the parts that matter to us right now are how Cthulhu died, and what happened to his body afterward." Annabeth paused then, obviously waiting for someone to ask a question, but when no one did, she continued. "First, after Cthulhu died, he sank into the sea, to the bottom of the sea. I think this is like what happened to Typhon, when he sank in the Hudson River. So that means that, maybe, the way he was killed is the way the Kraken is supposed to be killed."

"Alright, so how was he killed?" Percy asked, excitement in his voice.

"The crew that found him ran their boat into his head at full throttle," Annabeth answered.

All of them were silent, until Leo said, "We are _not _crashing my baby into that thing."

"That's not what I meant, remember, Lovecraft's premonitions were far from straight forward, so we probably don't have to actually hit it in the head with the ship, we could just…. Wait. Percy! Where are you going?" Annabeth exclaimed.

Jason looked over to see Percy moving to the rail. "I'm gonna do what you said," he answered.

"If you try to run my ship into that thing, I'll grill you alive, Fish Boy!" Leo yelled.

"Don't worry Leo," Percy answered calmly. "I'm not gonna use the _Argo_."

He stood at the rail, his back straight, and his body calm, and then he raised his arm in a motion that was way different than anything Jason had seen him do before. It was a surer motion, more definite, like Percy felt one-hundred percent sure of himself. Without thinking about it, Jason got up and walked toward Percy, wanting to see what he intended to do. 

The thing that struck Jason first wasn't coming from down by the water, it was coming from Percy. When Jason was within ten feet of Percy, he felt like he had walked into a freezer and, for a minute, Jason thought the atmosphere Leo had made wasn't working, until he realized the cold was coming _from _Percy. Jason looked at his face and immediately jumped back when he did.

Percy's face was determined, like Jason had expected, but his eyes looked different than normal. They were still the same color, but somehow, they looked like blocks of ice inside of Percy's face. They didn't shimmer and they were filled with such a cold fury, as Percy looked down at the Kraken that he thought it might be enough to kill the thing.

Percy stared at it for a moment more before he flicked up his wrist. A waterspout formed as he did, going up first one, then two, then three-hundred feet, and yet it still kept rising. Jason stared at it for a moment before he saw a disturbance below the surface of the water. He looked down to see the sea bulging upward along the length of the Kraken's shadow, and it took Jason a moment to realize what was happening. The Kraken was surfacing, like it was curious to see what was going on above it.

As Jason watched, the water split as the Kraken breached. Its entire length was the same slate-gray as its tentacles, and for a second Jason felt like he was watching an island of stone rise up from the sea. But then he saw something flash and he looked at it. He immediately wished he hadn't. He was staring at a large, blood red eye that was filled with so much hate and malice that it made Jason want to go run and hide. But worse was that Jason felt like a cloud had gone over the sun. He looked up and saw that the world seemed darker, and when he looked at the Sun, Jason saw that the color of it was so dim that it looked almost like a half-dead light bulb. Jason didn't understand how, because there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Jason was brought out of these thoughts when he heard a strange whooshing noise. He looked in the direction of it, and saw that the waterspout had started to spin, forming a sharp, watery point at about a mile into the air. Jason stared in amazement at the massive spire below him, and looked at Percy. Percy's expression hadn't changed, but sweat beaded his forehead. As Jason looked at him, Percy clenched his raised hand into a fist, which was immediately followed by a crackling noise in the direction of the waterspout. Jason looked toward it and nearly fell over himself because of what he saw happening.

Starting at the tip of the spire, the waterspout was freezing. Even as Jason watched, the ice rushed down the length of the spire, stopping at around half of the spires total length. Jason then heard Percy grunt and saw the spire pull back, until it was aimed straight at the Kraken's head. The spire held that way for a minute until, with a huge yell; Percy sent it flying toward the Kraken's head at fifty miles-an-hour like a massive, icy spear.

As Jason watched the huge icicle fly toward the Kraken, he thought it might actually be able to kill the thing, because besides its size and speed, its point looked as sharp as any Leo could make. The spire rushed toward the Kraken, and just before it hit Jason felt a moment of jubilation. They were going to do it! Percy had done it! He had killed the Kraken!

These thoughts immediately ended when Jason saw the spire of ice shatter against the Kraken's head, and he saw its massive red eye look up at them, clearly unimpressed. Jason heard a thud next to him, expecting to see that Percy had fallen unconscious but what he saw was even worse. Percy's eyes were wide open, filled with unimaginable fear, and his mouth was open in a silent scream. Jason watched as Percy started to jerk around, foam coming out of his mouth.

"Piper!" Jason heard Annabeth yell. "Tell the Kraken to stop!"

"What?" Piper yelled back.

"Just do it!"

"But—."

"Now!" Annabeth yelled as she skidded to Percy's side.

"Hey, Kraken!" Piper yelled, now at the railing by Jason. The Kraken focused its great eye on Piper, but she didn't shrink from it. "Stop!"

All at once, the shroud over the world seemed to lift, and everything looked bright again. Jason also noticed that the thrashing noises Jason had heard Percy making had ended. He looked back at him and saw that Percy was lying on the ground, his head in Annabeth's lap as he shook, as if he were freezing.

"Wh-what the hell w-was that?" Percy asked in a small voice.

Annabeth stroked a hair off his now sweaty forehead, and whispered to him softly, "I was about to tell you. Lovecraft wrote that looking at Cthulhu could cause madness. That was based on the Kraken. It can reach out with its mind and cause the worst kinds of madness, way worse than anything Mr. D can do. He just did that to you Percy."

Percy shivered again. "It was li-like when I faced Phobos, but so much worse. I-it made me see you guys, be-being tortured and killed, in the most horrible ways. It felt like years passed. Ho-how long was I-I like th-that?" he asked.

Annabeth pursed her lips. "You were only under for a few seconds." Percy looked at her with shock on his face. "I know, but you have to understand, the Kraken was the worst creature ever. It could destroy entire countries without ever surfacing. It drove entire cities mad at once, no one person, even if they were a god, could hold up against it."

Percy stared at her a moment more, then got shakily to his feet. He looked at the shadow of the Kraken, which had once more sunk beneath the surface and growled out, "Tell me how to kill that thing. It's going to pay for everything it did to you guys."

"None of that really happened Percy," Annabeth said soothingly, letting Percy lean most of his weight on her.

"I don't care," Percy growled, his eyes looking even icier than before. "It's going to pay. It's going to pay for everything."

**And that, my friends, is the end of this chapter. Next chapter, the finally show down between the Kraken and the Seven, and have no intent to let it disappoint. And for anyone who wants to be mad about the ice thing, ice is just frozen water, so Percy should be able to use it, at least somewhat. Anyway, that's it, and p.s. I'll probably start my **_**Inheritance Cycle **_**story today or tomorrow, so be ready for it if you want to read it.**


	18. Annabeth III

**A/N: Okay, everyone, this is the next chapter, but before I start it, I obviously have some explaining to do. So, I noticed that in a number of reviews, you guys mentioned that Percy is way out of character. I looked back and, well, you guys were right. When I wrote that little fight between him and Annabeth, I meant him to be snarky, but he came out more mean, which in hindsight, actually fits what I'm trying to do here somewhat better. That said, I have a reason why he's acting this way, but I never really explained it to you guys. I'm the author, so I know what I'm thinking when I write something, but you guys don't, and I almost always forget that, and it sometimes messes with my stories. So on that note, I'm going to take a short amount of time in this chapter to explain what's up with Percy, and hopefully when I do, all of you will be able to understand why he's acting like this. That said, I can assure you that, even if you don't get why, or you find the explanation lacking, you don't need to worry, Percy will be back to his normal self very soon. Okay, so I hope you guys will understand, so now on to the story! Oh, and thank you to everyone who reviewed.**

**Disclaimer: *My God, it's the Ark! I found it! I finally found it!* *walks up to the Ark, and slowly opens the top* *Dear Lord! It's more beautiful than I imagined!* *Lifts glowing papers from the Ark* *I knew it Riordan! You could never hope to hide the deeds from me!* *Rumble* *Rumble* *What is that?* *Give back the papers, or face my roundhouse kick.* *Damn you Riordan! Chuck Norris! Where did you even get Chuck Norris?* *Bam!* *Ow…damn…you…Norris.* *Takes deeds and rides away on his tiger* I don't own PJO or HoO, because of freaking Chuck Norris and his all-mighty roundhouse kick.**

Annabeth III

Annabeth was starting to worry about Percy. She looked at his face again as they went over the battle plan. It was filled with an anger that she couldn't place. He hadn't looked that mad even when he faced Kronos, so she knew something was up.

After Annabeth had answered Leo's question about whether he should put one of those little flags that said, "Bang!" at the end of the lance, which she gave a very definite no to, she went over to Percy.

"Percy?" she asked quietly, knowing that he'd been getting more irritable as time went on.

"What?" he snapped, already obviously annoyed. Bags had started to form under his eyes, giving his face a somewhat evil look.

Annabeth took a step back, surprised by how angry he already looked. "Wh-what's up with you?" she asked, scared by the look in his eyes.

"Nothing," he growled, turning away from her.

All of this shocked Annabeth. In all of the years that she'd known Percy, he'd never acted like this. "Percy," she whispered, forcing herself to step toward him, "something is definitely wrong. Please, just tell me."

She put a hand hesitantly on his shoulder, and felt his muscles tense beneath her touch. He turned to look at her, a number of emotions flashing through his eyes, until at last, with obvious effort, he forced down his anger. His eyes became sad, sadder than she had ever seen them. "I don't know," he said, his shoulders sagging as if the weight of the world had just fallen onto his shoulders.

"You have to," Annabeth answered, giving his shoulder a slight squeeze. "Please Percy, at least try. Let me help."

He looked at her, the sadness in his eyes deepening, until Annabeth realized he wasn't focusing on her anymore, but seeming to see something beyond her. "I mean it Annabeth, I don't know. It feels like the world either burns red, and then everything makes me angry, or the sun stops shining and I wish…I wish I didn't have to deal with any of it anymore."

His eyes focused on her again, and she was shocked to see tears starting to form at the edges. "I just want this to stop, and I feel like if-if I can get rid of that…that…that _thing_," he pointed at the shadow of the Kraken beneath them, "it might finally happen."

Annabeth looked at Percy for a second, not completely understanding what he meant. "I don't get it though. I mean, why would getting rid of the Kraken stop this?"

He shook his head, his expression pained. "I don't know," he answered, his eyes tightly closed. "I just know that every time I look at that monster, I want to start tearing everything apart. I want to run to the nearest city and start ripping it apart, brick by brick." He looked at her then, his green eyes rimmed with red. "I want to tear _everything _down."

Annabeth stared at Percy, uncomprehending. If she knew one thing about Percy, he would never do any of those things. Something was up, and as she thought about it, her eyes turned unconsciously toward the Kraken, which was floating along just below the surface of the ocean. She stared at it for a moment and felt her own anger rising. But it wasn't in the way Percy had described. She didn't want to tear _everything _down; she only wanted to tear _one _thing apart, the Kraken.

She may not know how, but in that moment, Annabeth became certain of something. The Kraken was messing up Percy. It was making him like this. It was screwing with her _boyfriend_, and it was going to pay.

Annabeth turned back to Percy. "Don't worry; we're going to get rid of that thing."

Percy smiled sadly. "I know," he said, his voice sounding stronger than Annabeth thought it would have while looking at his expression, "because nothing can hope to compete with your plans."

Annabeth smiled at Percy in return, feeling far less confident of her plan than he obviously did.

Annabeth stared at the large javelin before her. The shaft was made of Imperial Gold, which Jason had recommended, saying that it would probably serve their purposes the best. Annabeth turned the shaft of the javelin so that she could see the butt. It was hollow, and Annabeth knew that Leo was going to fill it with Greek fire, just as she had asked. The spearhead was made of diamond, the best cutting instrument Annabeth could think of. Annabeth dragged her finger across the edge of the head, applying next to no pressure, and felt it cut her shallowly. She guessed that Leo had asked Hazel to use her control over gemstones to make the edge as sharp as possible. Annabeth guessed that this was their best chance to actually kill the gigantic beast below them.

"Alright!" Annabeth exclaimed. "You all know the plan! Take careful aim, Leo, we're only gonna have one chance at this! Piper, Frank, keep it occupied as long as you can! Percy, Hazel, don't you dare stop until your sure the javelin's deep enough! And Jason, you better not strike until I say so! Okay?" she finished. All of the demigods around her nodded, their faces grim. Annabeth guessed that they all were having doubts about whether or not this plan would work, but they also knew that it was their last chance.

All of the demigods moved quickly, even though Annabeth knew that time was on their side. The Kraken was probably completely confident that they could never kill it, and that they had already used their trump card with that half-mile long spear of ice. What could a little spear like this do to something as big as the Kraken? It would be like sending a speck of dust at a person and hoping that it would kill them. Luckily, Annabeth had realized that and knew that the spear was more or less useless, that is, if they hadn't had Jason with them.

"Piper," Annabeth said, sounding far calmer than she felt, "now."

"Hey, calamari for brains!" she yelled down at the massive shadow below them, a slight musical sound coloring her voice now. The island sized shape shivered, as if the comment had actually stung it. "Why don't you come up and play, or are you scared of a few little kids?" Piper screamed again. The shape shook more noticeably, large waves rushing away from it because of the motion. "Come on biggin, don't you want to show us why everyone seems so scared of you, 'cause all I've seen you do is flap your tentacles around. I mean, I thought your balls would grow in proportion to your body, but I'm pretty sure _mine _are bigger than yours."

The shape below them seemed to be shaking with anger now, causing tons of huge waves to ripple away from it. The water around it began to bulge, and the monster rose out of the water, its grotesque red eye staring up at them in fury. "Now Frank!" Annabeth yelled. Without hesitating, Frank jumped over the side of the _Argo II_; he fell toward the sea for about a thousand feet, his body streamlined like skydiver's, until his form began to shift. His body became bigger and scaly as he continued to fall, about a thousand feet above the surface of the ocean, his spread his massive, scaled wings, his bright white claws extended before him and bright red flames rippling in his mouth. He fell toward the Kraken's eye, the flames now well in front of him, and was only noticed when he was about a hundred feet above the monster. He used his wings to slow his descent, but still smashed into the Kraken's massive eye, flames billowing around him.

An ear-piercing screech cut through the air as Frank's talons cut into its eye and his flames boiled the fluid inside it. Frank quickly spread his wings and took off again, just escaping the Kraken's tentacles as they rushed toward its eye to smash the creature that had just been there. Unluckily, for the Kraken at least, its tentacles ended up hitting its eye, the massive claws that it had instead of suction cups digging deeply into its already damaged eye. The screech that it gave was even worse than the first, and possibly the worst part of the experience was that the Kraken had no eyelids, so they could see the bleeding mess of what had once been the creatures eye from over a mile in the air.

Frank kept clawing at the monster and blowing fire onto its body to keep its attention occupied. When Frank had succeeded in getting all of the monsters tentacles away from its ruined eye Annabeth screamed, "Leo, shoot it! Shoot it now!"

Leo was apparently all too willing to oblige, because he launched the diamond-headed javelin straight at the Kraken decimated eye. As it streaked toward the monsters gaping eye, gaining speed the whole while it flew, the Greek fire in the butt of spear activated. Immediately, the spear rocketed toward the monster, flying faster than a bullet now. It hit the eye in a matter of seconds, and dug deeply into it. The creature screeched as the spear dug deeply into its eye, burning it to a crisp where the Greek fire touched it. Even as the Kraken's tentacles rushed toward its ruined eye, Annabeth yelled, "Percy, Hazel, now!"

They both raised their arms, and started their parts in the plan. An ark of highly pressurized, fast-moving seawater rushed toward the hole in the Kraken's eye where the javelin had pierced. It drove into the hole, causing the Kraken to screech again as the salt burned its destroyed eye. It screeched louder as Percy drove the spear deeper into the Kraken's massive orb, and Hazel caused it to inch forward by compressing and expanding the diamond spearhead. Percy and Hazel worked for first five, then ten, then fifteen minutes as they drove the spear deeper into the monster, driving it toward its finally destination, the Kraken's brain.

After twenty minutes, all of which the Kraken had been screeching in agony as the spear drove deeper and deeper into its skull, Percy yelled, "I think it's in!" Hazel dropped her arms and Frank flew clear of the monsters body, but Percy kept his up, keeping the arc of water steady.

"You heard him, Jason!" Annabeth yelled. "Finish this!"

Jason nodded and jumped over the side of the ship. He fell for a few seconds, finally stopping his descent when he reached the apex of Percy's ark of water. He pulled out his _gladius_, and with a war cry drove it straight into the ark before him. With a massive _boom,_ a huge, electric-blue bolt of lightning came down from the nearest cloud and drove toward Jason. When it hit him, it went through his body, into the sword, and then through the ark of water before him. Just before it did though, Percy dropped the part of the arc that connected to the ocean, so that the arc went only into the Kraken's skull. The water shone like the shone as the bolt of lightning drove through it, toward the Kraken. Within a fraction of a second, the bolt had found its way deep into the Kraken's skull.

The Kraken shock as the electricity drove through its skull, frying its brain. Huge waves, hundreds of feet tall rippled away from the monster as it shook, and electricity arced around below it in the sea. And then, all at once, the shaking stopped, and the Kraken's pained screeches ended. They all looked down at the massive body below them, waiting for it to strike at them again, but as they watched, its massive tentacles went limp and fell toward the ocean. They hit with a huge thud, sending up spray two thousand feet. After that a cloud of started to form below the Kraken, and it took all of them a moment to realize that the Kraken was dissolving. Even as they watched, its ruined eye slowly turned to dust.

After about fifteen minutes, where the massive body of the squid had once sat was a huge cloud of dust, slowly dispersing throughout the sea. In a few moments, Frank flew up behind them, his form shifting as he landed on the _Argo II_'s deck, his expression most likely mirroring the dumbstruck one's of his friend. Jason reached the ship a moment later, alighting quietly upon the ship, his expression just as amazed.

The seven demigods all stood still for a moment, shocked that they had succeeded in killing the monster when laughter cut through the silence.

Annabeth, Jason Frank, Leo, Piper, and Hazel all turned to see Percy laughing hysterically. "I told you!" he exclaimed, once his laughing had subsided. "That thing didn't stand a chance!" He laughed again, and they all realized that he was just relieved to finally be rid of the beast.

They all smiled to, the fear they had felt before melting away as they it sunk in that the Kraken was definitely gone. "Oohh yeahhh!" Leo yelled, running to the rail of the _Argo II_. "King Kong ain't got nothin' on me!"

The others laughed again, not completely believing that the creature that had been below them was gone, but Annabeth only needed to look at Percy, and see that the darkness that had been around him was gone, to know that the Kraken was one hundred percent dead.

**Okay, so that ends the fight with the Kraken. Hope you enjoyed it. I'm thinking I might give the heroes a short break, because the Kraken was one bad customer.**


	19. Annabeth IV

**A/N: So, sorry about the long break, I've had a lot of homework lately and I had a hard couple of days last week, so I really didn't have it in me to write a chapter, so I'm not going to bore you with a long author's note. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and here's the new chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO. (Sorry about the simplicity, but I'm trying to get to the chapter)**

Annabeth VI

Annabeth was lying in her bed as the _Argo II _flew smoothly through the air. She knew that she should try to be sleeping like the others, but too many things were flashing through her head.

Why had the Kraken followed them for so long? She knew that they were seven strong demigods, but they weren't all that far from the East Coast, and the scent of Camp Half-Blood should have attracted the Kraken like a moth to a flame, so why follow such a measly excuse for a snack? And why had they met the Kraken so early, on their quest? A creature that big should have been in the center of the ocean, and while the scent of the demigods at Camp Half-Blood may have attracted its attention, it should have been able to reach Manhattan way before they would have come across it, so why was it there?

Annabeth kept coming to the same conclusion, but she didn't understand how it was possible. The Kraken would only have come after them if it was ordered to, and the only beings strong enough to order around something like the Kraken would have to have been greater than any god or Titan. That left basically one possibility of who had given the Kraken its orders, Gaea. But how could she have done that? Here power was only over land, so how could she have even gotten a message to the Kraken? Had Gaea somehow spread her field of influence? Was she even more powerful than they thought? Could she become strong enough to attack Annabeth and her friends even when they were supposedly safely in the sky?

Annabeth shivered as all of these possibilities flashed through her mind. She tried to force the thoughts out of her mind, but found that every time she suppressed one thought, an even worse one took its place. Annabeth fought with herself for a good half hour, until she finally threw off her covers and walked to the desk that at the front of the room she shared with Hazel and Piper. She looked behind her to make sure the other two were still asleep, and opened the top drawer of the desk. She was the only one who actually used the desk, but she still wanted to let the other two sleep, so she took what she needed and then quietly walked out of the room.

She looked down the hallway to see if anyone was in it, and then walked to the room that she had pleaded for Leo to add. She opened the door and walked soundlessly into the room. After she had carefully closed and locked the door, she turned around. The room was barely bigger than a closet and had only two furnishings: A small water basin with a facet covered by a fine mesh screen and a light behind it, and a single, plain desk. Leo had spent very little time on the room, but it fit Annabeth's needs perfectly. She walked up to the basin and turned the facet. She felt the floor below her quake as the small store of clean water, which had been filtered out of seawater, flowed quickly toward the facet. A fine spray of water came out of the end, and made a rainbow in the air before Annabeth. She took a single drachma from the small purse in her hands and said, "O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering. Show me Chiron at Camp Half-Blood."

The rainbow shimmered for a moment before it changed into an image of the old horseman. He was in his wheel chair, and looked up at Annabeth with eyes that had massive bags around them. "Ah, Annabeth, it is good to see you child," he said, his voice tired but still comforting, as if he had guessed why she had called.

"Hey, Chiron, it's good to see you, too," she said, but then paused. "Are you okay? You look like you haven't slept in days."

Chiron smiled slightly. "I'm fine. Nike is just more trying than the everyday immortal."

Annabeth nodded, remembering how Hazel and Piper had described the goddess. "Sorry, but she was the only one that Iris would let join the fight."

Chiron shook his head. "No, don't apologize, my dear. Nike may be a little over eager, but she will be more than welcome when we have to face a Giant. Few can face an enemy who already has victory."

Annabeth nodded, but then stood silent for a while, wondering if she should actually talk to Chiron or not. "Child," she heard Chiron say softly, "look at me."

Annabeth did and saw the worry in Chiron's eyes. "What did you call me for? I suspect it was not to talk about the camps guest."

Annabeth pursed her lips, then shook her head. "No," she said, "no I didn't call about that. I was wondering," she paused, "I was wondering what you could tell me about Gaea."

Chiron seemed taken aback. "Well, I've never had the misfortune to actual meet her, and I suspect that you know as much about her as I do, so why do you ask?"

Annabeth licked her lips and then told Chiron her suspicions. As she did his eyebrows came closer and closer together until they were nearly touching. When she finished Chiron said, "Well, that is disconcerting. The Kraken rarely wastes its time on a single ship. The stories you usually hear about sea monsters pulling down ships are its descendants, and that it would chance upon yours in far from likely," he looked her right in the eyes, "but that an immortals sphere of influence would have spread is unheard of. If it has happened, than we have absolutely no chance against her."

"Do you think it has?" Annabeth asked in a small voice.

Chiron sat there quietly for a moment, his eyes closed as he thought. "I don't know. I hate to say this, but I pray that there has been a traitor in the court of the sea, and that they gave Gaea's orders to the Kraken, but we just can't be sure."

The two stared at each other for a moment, accepting that they either have a traitor to face below the sea, or Gaea has become even more terrible. Chiron finally broke the silence by asking, "So, what other problems have you faced since you left, child?"

Annabeth recounted everything that had happened to them, and also the dreams that Percy had had.

Chiron's eyebrows knit yet again, and he asked, "Was Percy certain that he saw the Giant correctly?

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah, why? DO you think you know who he is?"

Chiron hesitated, and then shook his head. "I cannot place a name to him, but he sounds very familiar. I will think upon this, for it may help you to defeat him if you know exactly who he is, but that is not what truly frightens me. If what you have said is true, then we have very little time before Gaea fully wakes and everything we have worked for over the last three thousand years is lost, and it may already be too late."

"There must be some way to stop her. No one, not even she can be fully invulnerable," Annabeth said.

Chiron hesitated, but then nodded. "You are right. She is not invulnerable, but only someone greater than any god or Titan could possibly… stop…," Chiron trailed off, his eyes wide as he seemed to think of something.

"What is it, Chiron?" Annabeth asked, and then an exciting thought came to her mind. "Did you think of a way to fight Gaea?"

He expression stayed blank with shock for a moment before he shook his head vigorously. "No! I mean, yes! I mean, well, maybe," Chiron quickly exclaimed his eyes still wide, though now they seemed to be filled with equal parts fear and hope. "I may have a way to fight her, if she wakes, but it will be dangerous, and it could easily backfire, but it could possibly let us stop her. Still, I would prefer to not have to do it, it's desperate and risky beyond belief, so try to keep her from waking if you can, but I will attempt to speak with the gods on this matter."

Annabeth nodded her head, excitement coursing through her as she started to believe that they may actually have a chance of facing Gaea if she woke. ""Kay, Chiron, we'll do everything we can."

He nodded, the hope and fear in his eyes still prevalent as the Iris message faded away.

Annabeth stood there for a while, shaking with excitement as the possibility of stopping Gaea continued to wash over her. She finally shook of the feeling and walked back to the door. Her excitement equalizing her fear, Annabeth went back to her room, and found that she could finally, inexplicably, sleep.

**Okay, so sorry that this chapter is so short, but I may do another today or tomorrow, but this seemed like a good place to end it. And I hopped you enjoyed it, but I have a question that I want to ask all of you. My writing isn't solely fan fiction. I do have some original stuff that I've been working on, but I'm not sure if I should start it over or continue on from where I am. So, what I want to ask is would you guys like me to put a chapter of my original stuff up here, so you could help me to see if I should keep it going or start it over? I would put up another chapter for the actual story, so if you didn't want to read it, you could skip right over it, but I won't put it up at all if the majority of you don't want me to. So, just tell me if you can, and I'll follow your guys' decision in this. Okay, that's it so see you. **


	20. Percy III

**A/N: Once again, I have to apologize for the break, I have finals coming up, and I had an important presentation this week, so I didn't have time to update. So, with that done I would like to thank everyone for their reviews and I will post that excerpt sometime, I'm not sure when though, unless I get an overwhelming amount of reviews against it. So, with that, we can move onto the story.**

**Disclaimer: *I've got a golden ticket! I found them! I found where Chuck Norris hid the rights! I've got a golden ticket* *trips and lands in large, muddy puddle* *No! No! It can't—oh, wait they're fine!* *enters honey badger* *Oh, aren't you adora…Hey, let go of those! No! Come back! Not the rights! Please, just this once, give a s&#t!* Sadly, I don't own PJO or HoO, because of the freaking honey badger. **

Percy III

Percy stood at the _Argo II_'s wheel as it cut through the water. The demigods had left the massive cloud of monster dust behind about a half hour ago, but they had all been a little tense since then. They were afraid that their fight with the Kraken might have attracted monsters and that they were now being followed, but they had yet to be attacked.

Percy finally looked back at the other demigods. "I think we're safe," he said. "I haven't felt anything big enough to be a problem since we landed, so you guys can relax."

Percy could feel the tension drain out of all of them, except for Annabeth and Leo, who both stood looking at their feet blankly. Percy decided to let it pass, think they were stilled tense from the fight, or they wanted to be ready for a fight if it was coming, but then Annabeth said, "I have some things that I need to tell you guys."

Percy turned around again to look at her questioningly, as did the other demigods, and saw that her face was set gravely. "What's up?" he asked, worried by her expression.

She looked at him while biting her lip and said, "I talked with Chiron while you all were resting, and I learned some things which could change our whole quest." She then explained what she and Chiron had talked about, and of the small hope that Chiron may have thought of.

By the time Annabeth had finished talking, Percy knew why she looked why she did. He walked over to her, pressing the button on the wheel that allowed it to be guided by the Gulf Stream. He walked over to her and wrapped her in his arms. "I'm sure Gaea doesn't have that much power. I mean, I would've felt something if she had gained power over the sea, right?" he reassured her.

She looked at him. "Maybe, but the alternative isn't much better, now is it?" she retorted.

Percy had to admit that. The Kraken wouldn't have responded to any being with power over the sea, even if they did have Gaea's backing, which meant that, either Oceanus had teamed up with the Giants and Gaea, or one of Poseidon's generals or family members had turned against him. Neither were happy scenarios.

"True, but my dad can handle it," Percy said, not completely believing what he said.

Annabeth shrugged. "I hope you're right," she said, "and I hope he handles it soon because I don't know if we can take another fight like the one with the Kraken."

Percy nodded and then pulled her closer. The two stayed that way until Leo said, "Well, I'm glad to see that you two have made up, but we're all still here, and we kind of have some stuff to work out, so can you end the whole lovey-dovey moment."

Percy looked at the others to see them all standing there awkwardly looking away, except for Leo who had his arms crossed and his eyebrow raised. Percy sighed and unwrapped his arms from around Annabeth and they both stepped away from each other. "Okay, so what exactly do we have to talk about?" Percy asked a little annoyed at being told off for hugging his girlfriend.

"Well," Frank answered, stepping forward while giving Percy a slightly apologetic expression, "we could talk about that Giant. I mean, why can no one place a name to him?"

Percy shrugged, feeling more at ease then he had in months. "Maybe he's not as bad as he seems. I mean, yeah he's big, but maybe he never had a big part in the fights."

"No," Frank said. "I know warfare, and Gaea definitely wouldn't leave Rome defended by someone who she wasn't sure could handle us. Thantos said that's where we need to start our search for the Doors of Death, and I'm sure Gaea will want to cut our search as short as she can, so it would make sense that she would go for overkill."

Percy looked at him. "Whose side are you on?" he asked, wanting to keep the others calm.

"The one that keeps us alive," Frank said, then stepped toward Percy, and whispered. "Listen, I know you don't want to worry us, but we're not little kids. We can take care of ourselves; you don't have to face this alone. You don't have to face Gaea by yourself."

Percy looked at him. He didn't want any of his friends getting hurt, but he knew Frank was right; he wasn't in this alone. It wouldn't be like when he fought Kronos. He wasn't the only one who had to bear the Great Prophecy, but he found himself wishing he was. That way he could keep all of his friends safe. That way, no one but him would have to risk their life. "You're right," Percy said, "but us talking about him isn't going to help. If my dad and Chiron couldn't guess who he is, we have no chance, and worrying about it is only going to make things worse."

Frank hesitated, but then stepped back, saying, "You're right, worrying about it isn't going to help us, so we should just leave it, for now."

Percy smiled at Frank, happy that they wouldn't be getting into it about the Giant. "So, what else do we need to talk about?"

The demigods stood in silence for a long moment before Leo stepped forward again. "I don't know if we need to talk about it, but I have some things that you guys should see," he said.

They looked all looked at him. "What is it Leo?" Piper asked, and then a disgusted expression crossed her face. "I'm not looking at that! None of us are doctors, and if you need to get that checked out you'll need to wait until we get to Italy!"

Leo's face flushed. "It's nothing like that!" he exclaimed. "And I don't any problems like that in the first place!" He looked at the others, still red as a tomato. "It's some stuff that could come in handy whenever we have to face something like a Giant."

Percy raised his eyebrow, not really believing Leo. "Are you sure it's not something a doctor should see?"

Leo flushed even more. "Yes!" he snapped. "Now come on!"

The demigods stood around the case staring at the guns before them. Hazel was the first to pick hers up, and she brought it to eye level. "Well, these are, uh, nice Leo, but unless we're going into an Old West style fight, I don't think they're gonna be much help," she said.

Leo smiled and held out a bullet with a streak on it out to her. "You think so huh? How about you try it out, before you start judging?"

Hazel hesitated a moment before taking the bullet and putting it into the slot. She walked to the window, and looked back at Leo uncertainly. He nodded his head enthusiastically, so Hazel raised the gun, cocked it, and pulled the trigger. The bullet left the barrel soundlessly and traveled far over the sea before it hit the water. The second it did, Percy felt a large mass rush up from the sea to meet it. Within a second, the area where the bullet had stopped was covered in shining rocks.

Hazel jumped back, shocked. "Are—are those pearls?" she asked, her eyes wide.

Leo nodded happily. "Yep!" he exclaimed. "Each gun has two types of bullets, both of which have some link to your powers! Come on up to the deck and I'll tell you about them."

Once they were all on the deck, each of the demigods gripped their Colts eagerly, wanting to try them out.

Percy walked toward Leo and attempted to take a bullet out one of the bags that Leo had also taken from the cases. "Wait!" Leo exclaimed. "If you're not careful you could end up killing one of us, so just wait until I explain, what each gun does."

Percy hesitated, torn between trying the gun and listening to his friend. He finally pulled his hand back and said, "Fine, but hurry up. I want to try out this bad boy!"

Leo smiled, though it seemed a little forced. "We'll see if you still feel that way after you hear about what the bullets do," he said. "Alright, guys! Come on, I want to get rid of these things!" the demigods looked at him and came forward, putting the guns in their pockets.

"Okay," Leo began, "so I wasn't able to make many bullets for the guns, but it should be enough if we conserve them. There are twenty of each type of bullets, and the bullets are made so they only work in your gun, so we all have exactly forty bullets apiece."

"What!" Hazel exclaimed. "Then why did you have me shot one?"

"I made an extra bullet for one of each of our types so you could all test the guns out, but after that, try to only use the guns when you really have to," Leo continued. When they had all consented, he said, "Now Percy, I'm going to start with your bullets because they're the most straight forward."

**(A/N: Okay, so before I start explain the bullets effects, I feel the need to give you all a warning. Some of the bullets powers are, well, for lack of a better word, gruesome. I wasn't feeling the best when I came up with them, but the powers fit so well, and I've come up with fights with them, so I'm sticking with it. That said, you won't actually see their powers for at least a few more chapters, but I will put warnings before their usage if you want.)**

Leo handed Percy his bag, but pulled two different bullets from it, one with a wave design on it and the other with what looked like a desert on it. "So," Leo began, "this bullet with the wave design is really straight forward. It shots a high-pressure blast of water that can cut through steel, Celestial bronze, Imperial gold, even diamond, so you don't have to worry about armor of any type. And this one with the desert pattern, well, it's way worse. The bullet works like a magnet in a lot of ways. It attracts the oxygen atoms of the molecule, and basically dries anything it hits out completely."

Percy stared at the bullet with wide eyes. "It what!" he exclaimed, shocked and revolted by the idea.

"It dries whatever it hits out completely," Leo said, looking at the bullet with an expression similar to Percy's. "I wasn't happy when I realized what it did, but it's effective. I made enough of each bullet to test them, and it completely drained a huge pool filled with water, so every hit's a kill shot."

Percy took the bullet afraid that it would dry him out. "You don't have to worry, the casing will protect, just don't shot yourself in the leg," Leo said. Percy walked away, staring at the bag of bullets with horror. He then made a silent promise to himself that he would never use the desert bullets.

He turned around to see that Annabeth had walked toward Leo, though she seemed a little scared now. Leo took the gray bag and handed it to Annabeth, before taking two bullets from it. "I'm really sorry about this Annabeth, when I made these bullets, I prayed to my dad to give us the most effective weapons, and well I got what I asked for. Now this bullet," he said, holding up a book with a book on it, "will fill the creatures mind with information when you shot him."

"Why would we do that?" she asked, confusion on her face. "Wouldn't that just make them more dangerous?"

Leo shook his head. "It might if they lived through it, but some much information is pushed on them in less than a second that it overloads their brain and they die from what is basically a Typhon-sized stroke," he said, which caused Annabeth's eyes to fill with horror. "This other one," he continued, showing a bullet with a man with a blank face, "has the exact opposite effect. It takes any sort of memory and thought from the thing that was shot and makes them with basically as much thought as a rock."

Annabeth looked at him in horror. "What did you test these on?" she exclaimed.

Leo looked down sadly. "An automaton that I remade later so it wouldn't remember any of this, now please let me continue."

Piper stepped forward, looking fearful now. "Alright Piper these are yours," he said, taking two bullets from the bag that he gave to her. "This one…" he said, and explained the effects of the bullet. He then moved on to Frank, then Hazel, and finally Jason, his face become sadder and sadder each time he told them what the bullets could do.

"Alright," he finally said with large bags under his eyes even though the entire process had taken no more than an hour, "I'm sorry I had to give these things to you, but we may need them, and if that Giant is as bad as he seems, we may be happy we have them, by then."

He then sat on the ground his head cradled in his hands, and Percy relieved that Leo had never wanted to have to make things like this. Percy attempted to step toward him, but saw Jason go to Leo and thought that maybe it would be better if he left this talk to someone who knew Leo better. He looked down at the gun in his hands and silently made a prayer that he would never have to use it.

**Alright, so that ends this chapter. Sorry about cutting out the other gun's abilities, but we'll see them later, and I was starting to depress myself. I may end up putting up that excerpt now so you don't have to deal with just this depressing chapter. So, sorry about it, but I will not have next chapter be so depressing, I promise. **


	21. Percy IV

**A/N: Okay, so I have a few things to say in this Author's Note, so please bear with me. First, I would like to thank everyone for their patience and reviews. I realize I haven't updated the actual story for a while and I apologize for that. I've had a great deal on my plate lately that I'd rather not go into, so I have been unable to make myself write for a while. Second, if you have read this story before, you have probably noticed that I removed the excerpt for my original work. After hearing how it confused almost everyone who read it, I decided that this was probably the best choice I could make, and that I wouldn't add anymore of these excerpts. I'd also like to apologize for putting it up, I suppose I was just eager for you all to see some of what I do on my own, and didn't think it through. Finally, I would like to say that I think I did over sell the guns. I guess I ended up over thinking them, and putting my own disgust with my ideas into them, so I'll probably not end up showing it ever again. So, with that done, let's get to the story!**

**Disclaimer: *Come here, honey badger. Come to Daddy, you little prick. I've got a king cobra for you.* *honey badger exits its den, with the rights in its mouth* *That's it you stupid little crap. Bring the rights to Daddy.* *honey badger comes forward, staring at the bag with the cobra in it* *That's it. That's it. Now, attack my pretties!* *launches stuffed monkeys at the honey badger, who runs in fear for the first time in its life* *Ha ha! I've got the rights, again!* *slips on ice* *Ouch! Ah, how could I fall, again! What is wrong with me? God, what would Brian Boitano?* *Brian Boitano skates up, and takes the rights while using his magical fire breathe* *Dammit, not again! Apparently, Brian Boitano would take my rights!* *begins sobbing uncontrollably* I don't own PJO or HoO, and for those of you who don't know who Brian Boitano is, go on YouTube and search "What would Brian Boitano do?"**

Percy IV

Percy stood at the bow of the ship, looking out at the sea. He had been thinking about everything he had learned yesterday, from both Leo and Annabeth. He looked at the gun again and grimaced. All of the heroes had reconciled themselves with the weapons, but none of them truly liked them. Percy knew why he disliked his. Besides the brutal way that it worked, it also felt unfair for him to use it. At least when he was using his powers or fighting with Riptide, the monsters stood a chance of escaping or not being killed by a single hit, but with the guns, they had no chance. He also hated that every time he touched it, he got a strange urge to pull it out and try it on the nearest living thing. He suspected that Leo's dad had blessed these weapons more than Leo had wanted, and made them far more dangerous than they needed to be.

He grimaced again, turning away from the weapon and looked at the sea below him. The guns weren't the main thing on Percy's mind though. He was far more worried about what Annabeth had said.

He truly doubted that Gaea had power over the seas, but he couldn't be sure. Even if she didn't have power over the sea though, he knew the alternative was nearly as bad. Either Oceanus was rising once again, or one of the members of the royal family had turned against Poseidon, neither of which were good scenarios, because it meant that Poseidon would now most likely have a two front war on his hands.

Percy remembered how Poseidon had looked during his battle with Oceanus, and Percy knew that the fight that was coming for Poseidon was going to be even worse. As he stared at the sea, Percy debated whether he should jump into the ocean and find his dad to tell him what they had figured out. He also remembered what he had done when he they had fought against the Kraken.

He looked at his hands and curled them as the icy feeling rushed through his body, just as it had when he made the giant icicle. He stared at his hands for a few more moments before raising them. A few thin streams of water came out of the sea and began to wrap around each other, until they were so tangled up that it was impossible to follow a single stream without moving onto a different one on accident. With a flick of his wrist, Percy felt the icy feeling rush out of his body as the tangled streams of seawater froze in a matter of seconds. He then used a low-pressure stream of water to move the sculpture onto the deck of the ship so he could look at it more closely.

As Percy ran his fingers along one of the icy cold lines, he heard, "That's really pretty, you know."

Percy turned around to see Annabeth looking at the ice sculpture, and then turning her eyes upon him. Her grey eyes gleamed bright as she looked into his, and he felt his sad thoughts melt away. He hadn't felt like things were normal between them since they had left Camp Jupiter and he felt himself walk up to her and wrap his arms around her waist.

She looked up into Percy's face, a small, questioning smile on her face, until he leaned down and began to tenderly kiss her. He felt the familiar electric shock run through his body as he kissed her, and felt her hands find their way into his hair. He smiled slightly into the kiss and felt her smile into it as well.

Annabeth finally pulled away, her eyes closed and a small, content smile on her face. "What was that for?" she asked, her voice oddly breathy, something that Percy had never heard from her before.

He smiled down at her and asked, "What, I can't give my girlfriend a kiss, anymore?"

She opened her eyes and looked at him, her smile widening. "Maybe…maybe not. Maybe your girlfriend doesn't just want a kiss anymore, and she wants to see what _you'll_ do," she said, saying the last part directly in Percy's ear.

Percy blushed furiously at the implications. He knew that Annabeth had made almost every move in their relationship, but he had still never expected her to make that move so quickly. "Umm," he said, looking away from her.

Annabeth laughed. "Calm down, Seaweed Brain, I'm just messing with you," she said, before pulling him in for another kiss. Percy's embarrassment melted away as the electric shook rushed through him. He ended pulling away this time and looking down at his sweetly smiling girlfriend. Her eyes were once again closed and he could see a great deal of the tension that she had also been feeling had melted out of her. He brought one arm up and began to gently run a hand through her hair. Her content smile grew and she rested her head against his chest, causing warmth to spread from where she made contact with him.

"What are we going to do?" Annabeth asked after a number of minutes had passed in silence.

"What do you mean?" Percy asked, already knowing the answer, but not wanting to acknowledge it.

"How are we going to stop Gaea?" she asked, pulling away from him enough to look him in the eyes. "You saw her face the same as I did."

Percy knew what she meant. When they had last seen Gaea, she had obviously been barely asleep. He knew they were running out of time to stop her, and if they didn't find a way to put her back under soon, everything they had done wouldn't matter. Gaea could wipe them out in a matter of minutes if she was awake, and Percy knew that no one, not even the Olympians would be able to stand up to her.

Percy looked down at Annabeth and was surprised to see that there was no fear in her eyes, just a steely determination. "I don't know what we're going to do stop her," he said, truthfully, but then added, "but, whatever it is, it _will_ work."

"Do you think the guns could work?" Annabeth asked.

The idea surprised Percy, and he involuntarily looked down at the pistol at his hip. The lustrous steel of the weapon shined with a strange, frightening light. "Maybe," Percy started to say, but then shook his, "but I doubt it. Even if we unloaded every bullet into her, and Leo made a few thousand more, I doubt it would do much to Gaea. I mean, she's Mother Earth, we'd have to completely decimate the planet to stop her if she wakes up, and that would kind of defeat the purpose of our mission."

Annabeth nodded. "I guess you're right," she said. "I just wish Chiron had told me what his plan might be, but he seemed as scared about it as the idea of Gaea waking up."

Percy nodded, not for the first time wishing that his teacher was there to help guide them. He smiled at her, wanting to get off of the serious subject. "How were things at camp going?"

Annabeth smiled again. "Apparently, Nike's making things interesting for them," she said, giggling slightly. "I'm sure Clarisse is having a great time with her, though."

Percy laughed, certain that the daughter of Ares was keeping the minor god happy by fighting her any chance she got. He looked at Annabeth's smiling face and, once again, felt the problems he had been worrying about melt away. He brought her into another kiss, certain for the first time that they would stop Gaea, somehow.

They remained in the embrace longer than the other two, so long that Percy nearly missed the feeling of a massive body in the water below them.

He immediately pulled away in surprise, and fear, wondering if they were about to face another Kraken. Percy stood still, concentrating on finding any signs of life from the mass below them. He paid everything else no heed until he was certain the mass was inanimate, and until Annabeth smacked him hard on the back of the head.

"Ow!" he cried, opening his eyes. "What was that for?"

"You weren't answering me, so I thought something was wrong," she answered back, as if that was the obvious thing to do.

"But why did you hit me?" he asked again. "What if I had been having a seizure, or stroke, or something? Is hitting someone really the best thing to do then?"

She rolled her eyes. "You definitely weren't having a stroke or seizure, so I thought you might have gotten paralyzed by something and I figured that a shock would be the best chance of getting you out of it," she said, completely calm.

Percy glared at her, then quietly grumbled, "You're really lucky you're cute."

She chuckled and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Thanks, now what happened?" she asked.

Percy quickly explained about the mass below them, ending with a shrug while saying, "It's probably nothing, just an undersea volcano, or island, or maybe even a big reef. I guess I'm still just nervous because of the attack by the Kraken."

Annabeth nodded and said, "That's probably it," before stepping away from Percy and heading toward the door to the ships interior. Percy watched as she walked away, and as he did, felt three bodies as large as the _Argo II_ break away for the mass below them and rush up toward the ship at a fast clip. They moved so fast, in fact, that Percy didn't even have time to do more than open his mouth as the masses broke the surface, and surrounded the _Argo II_.

**Alright, that's it for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. As you can see, I tried to get a little more Percabeth in this one, and attempted to dampen the guns bad nature. **


	22. Piper III

**A/N: Okay, so I guess I should start this, but I have to tell you guys something first. I just learned that my great-aunt was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer, and she is too old for it to be treated, so I may not be able to update as much, due to updates on her condition, but I'll do what I can to get chapters out to you guys. I just needed to tell you all that before starting this chapter, so, with that done, thank you for the reviews and let's start the chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO. (Once again, sorry for the lame disclaimer, but I'm not really up to making a whole thing out of it right now.)**

Piper III

Piper stared at the black shapes circling the _Argo II_. Percy had called them up about ten minutes ago, and the heroes and the—the _things_—were now stuck in a standoff. Piper studied the bodies for the hundredth time, trying to figure out what they were, but they had no defining features. They were oval shaped, and a dark gray, almost black, with nothing else to define them. Piper couldn't even tell if they were alive or inanimate objects. She had never heard of monsters like them before, so she suspected that they were mythological, which was a little comforting, but she was still wary of them.

Piper felt a hand on her shoulder, and drew Katoptris so quickly that it was only a blur of bronze as she placed it on their throat. When she looked who had touched her, Piper saw Jason, his eyes wide because of the knife at his throat. Piper's eyes went wide as she realized this, and she quickly pulled her blade away. "Jason!" she exclaimed, her cheeks flushing from embarrassment. "I'm so sorry! I didn't hear you come up!"

Jason nodded, rubbing his neck and looking at Katoptris warily. "Yeah," he said, looking up at her to show. "It's okay. I'll just remember to never play 'Guess Who?' with you, unless I'm looking to get skewered."

Piper laughed lightly, and looked at Jason. She and Jason hadn't talked much since they arrived at Camp Jupiter, and she knew why: Reyna. Jason had said barely spoken two words to Piper the entire time they were there, and she wasn't going to forget that easily…at least not without a fight. A fight that she was losing as she looked at Jason's smile, and felt a warm glow spread through her.

As this went through Piper's head, she felt the glow dampen a little, and she asked, "What is it, Jason?" in a less than happy voice.

He looked at her, his head cocking to the side a little and said, cautiously, "I just wanted to make sure you're okay. You looked like you had spaced out for a while and I just wanted to make sure you were okay…" he finished dumbly.

Piper knew why. The comment had been so against what she had been just thinking about, that it made her even madder. He cared how she was feeling now, that the black-haired she-devil was gone! The more she thought about it, the madder she became, until she thought she might explode. Apparently, someone noticed this though, and rushed over to the two. Piper looked to see who it was and wasn't surprised that it was Hazel.

"Hey, Piper!" she said, with forced cheeriness. "Do you wanna talk?"

Piper could only nod because she was afraid that, if she opened her mouth, she might end up telling Jason to do some things that probably weren't going to be very prudent during their current situation. She also knew that he would end up doing them because of her charmspeak. So, she followed Hazel away from Jason, trying not to give him dirty looks as she did.

"Piper," Hazel finally asked cautiously, "what's wrong? You looked like you were about to stab Jason, or maybe telling him to go fu—"

"I know! I know!" Piper cut her off, not wanting to go into what she would have told Jason to do to himself. "It's just, well, he ignores me the entire time we're at Camp Jupiter, but now that we're in the middle of the ocean, he suddenly cares about how I'm feeling? That's just stupid! He can't just ignore me for that—that—that _praetor_—," Piper had to force out the last word, because she had some much more colorful one's that she would've loved to use, but knew they wouldn't be helpful, "of yours' while we're there and then suddenly act like he always cared about me! I mean that's just messed up! And then…" Piper continued to rant about what Jason, and about where he should shove a great number of things before she finally felt spent.

Once she had, Hazel looked at her with wide eyes for a moment before she let out a burst of pent-up breath. "Well, that was—wow—just wow," Hazel said, which gratified Piper a little bit.

Finally, Hazel took another breath and began to speak. "Piper, I understand why you're mad. I would be too, if I was in your position, but you have to realize, Jason does care about you. He was always looking at you when you weren't looking, and he took in every word you said like they were blessings from the gods themselves!"

"No, he didn't!" Piper interrupted. "He was always too busy with Reyna to care about anything I said or did!"

Hazel rolled her eyes. "For the gods' sakes Piper, he hadn't seen Reyna for nearly a year! Of course he wanted to catch up with her! They knew each other for a long time, and they were friends! You just can't accept that because you're afraid that's not all they were doing!" Hazel threw back at her.

Piper almost smacked Hazel when she said that, but held back. She closed her eyes and took a few deep, calming breaths. She was just about to begin speaking when the _Argo II _shook violently.

Piper and Hazel both fell to the ground and looked to see what had happened. The bodies that had been surrounding the ship had stopped moving and two of them had rammed into it, keeping it from moving. The third, which was now stopped at the front of the _Argo II_, began to shake as a hatch opened at its front. A metal walkway extended out of the hatch and softly landed on the boat's deck.

Piper stared at the dark opening in the body as movement disturbed its uniformity. With widening eyes, Piper watched as three people stepped out of the oval, and walked calmly onto the _Argo II_'s deck. The people were all dressed in Ancient Greek armor, and had their black hair cropped military short. Their bright, sea green eyes looked at Piper and the other demigods coldly as they swept over the seven teenagers. Their eyes seemed to rest on Percy longer than any of the other demigods.

"Stand up!" the tallest of the three men commanded. When none of the demigods responded he drew his sword and yelled, "I said stand up, now!"

The demigods responded, each rising warily to their feet and congregating around each other, except Percy and Jason who stepped toward the man, drawing their blades.

"What do you want?" Percy asked, his voice as cold as the man's was.

The man scowled furiously and roared at Percy, "Don't you speak to us, scum! You dare speak to us after what your father did!" He raised his sword and got into a fighting stance.

Someone else ran out of the body at the front of the ship and put their hand on the man's shoulder. "Be calm, Zale. We don't know why these travelers are here. Do not create a quarrel where none exists," they told the man, who was apparently named Zale. Piper looked at the person and was surprised to see that it was a beautiful woman in a flowing robe of aquamarine.

Her eyes were a light blue and her hair long, silky-black hair fell to the middle of her back. She looked at Percy and smiled kindly.

"I am sorry for my brother's rudeness," she said, walking up to Percy. "He has inherited an old grudge of our people."

Percy nodded, but Piper noticed that he still looked tense, like he was expecting this woman to attack him. Piper got the impression that the woman did want to jump Percy, but not to attack him.

"Why do you guys have a grudge against my dad?" Percy asked, his voice cautious.

The woman's expression darkened for a moment. "He did us a great wrong long ago," she said, her voice so quiet that she was almost whispering, but then she smiled at Percy again and said more genially, "but our quarrel does not rest with you or your friends."

Percy nodded, but Piper could tell he was unconvinced, and becoming uncomfortable because the woman had moved closer to him and was leaning toward him. "Uhh," he said, looking down uncomfortably now that the woman was within a few inches of him.

"Well, that's good," Annabeth said as she came to stand by Percy, grabbing his hand in the process. "We'll just be on our way then."

"No!" the woman exclaimed, moving away from Percy and glancing at Annabeth and Percy's linked hands. "Please don't go," she said. "Let us make it up to you for this rude intrusion. Come to our island."

Piper looked at the woman questioningly and said her first words since the _Argo II _had been boarded, "What island?"

The woman looked at Piper like she was crazy. "The one that we came from," she said simply.

Piper resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Well, where exactly would this island that you came from _be_?"

The woman smiled. "Allow us show you. You all look as if you could use a chance to rest," she said excitedly, and grabbed Percy's hand, pulling him away from Annabeth, much to the blonde's obvious anger. She began to pull Percy toward the strange vehicle that she and the warriors had come from. Annabeth followed, her eyes burning, and Percy looked back at her, his expression apologetic.

The warriors gathered around the other heroes and began to shepherd them toward the oval reluctantly.

"Wait!" Leo exclaimed, trying to get around the large men. "What are you going to do with my ship?"

"Don't worry scum," Zale said through his teeth, "you're…_ship_…will be well cared for, though I don't see why you would care for this waste of bronze."

Leo's expression became outraged and he was about to tell the warrior off when Piper clapped her hand over his mouth and whispered to him urgently, "Don't! You can be mad at them when we can fight back, but right now we'd be dead before you could get out two words!"

Leo's eyes burned angrily for a moment, and his skin felt feverish under Piper's hand, before he calmed noticeably and nodded. Piper removed her hand from his mouth and smiled at Zale sweetly.

"Why don't you guys just let us go?" Piper asked him, her voice having the slight lilt that it always gained when she used charmspeak. "We really don't need to rest, and we don't want to cause you nice guys any trouble."

Zale smiled at her dreamily, and his sword became looser in his hand, along with the other warriors' swords, and he said, "Maybe you're right. We really don't want the trouble of dealing with a bunch of foreigners, even one's as attractive as yourself, but Alexandra must get what she wants."

His opposition surprised piper, but she continued on, "I'm sure Alexandra will get over it. If you just give me a chance to speak with her, I'm sure I can convince her that she really doesn't need to go to the trouble," Piper said, still using charmspeak.

Zale nodded, and said, "Yes, maybe that will work" He looked at her and grabbed her arm gently. "Come," he said. "You can speak with her now."

"Thank you," Piper said, giving him a winning smile. Zale smiled back at her, but she noticed a flash in his eye that worried her.

"It is no trouble, no trouble at all," he said, looking her up and down, which made her even more nervous. Piper didn't have any time to dwell on the short exchange though because she and Zale had soon reached Percy, Annabeth, and the woman, who Piper realized must be Alexandra.

Zale and Alexandra shared a quick, whispered argument before Zale said, "Come," and led them away, leaving Piper and Alexandra alone.

Alexandra looked at Piper, and asked, "What is it? My brother is rarely so willing to listen to strangers, but he plead with me to listen to you, so what do you have to say?"

Piper took a breath and told Alexandra, "We really can't see your island right now, ma'am. We are on an important quest and we really don't have the time to spare on sightseeing." Piper made sure charmspeak coated her words, so Alexandra would quickly concede and Piper and her friends could leave without a fight.

"Nonsense!" said the woman, smiling. "Whatever this quest of your is, I'm sure you can spare a day, now don't worry so much."

"Bu-but ma'ma!" Piper continued, disturbed that her charmspeak had failed so terribly, "we really don't have time, and we don't want to be any trouble to you or your people, so we really should leave."

"It will be no trouble!" Alexandra retorted. "No trouble at all! Now, stop worrying so much, dear! Everything will be fine."

"But…" Piper said and continued with more arguments, but none could change the woman's opinion, and before Piper knew it, all of her friends were crammed into the vessel and they were sinking below the surface of the sea.

"Don't worry Piper," Jason told her cautiously, most likely remembering how she had reacted earlier. "I'm sure everything will be fine. It's not like we can't defend ourselves if these guys decide they don't like us."

"I guess," Piper said, her earlier anger completely forgotten as she felt Jason put his arm around her reassuringly. Piper leaned into him and noticed Zale giving Jason a death-stare to match the one he had given Percy earlier.

Piper felt her nervousness return as she looked at Zale, but she shrugged it off, and looked at Alexandra. The woman was animatedly talking with Percy, who still looked uncomfortable, especially with Annabeth standing beside him, grinding her teeth furiously as she glared at the strange woman.

Piper still wondered why Alexandra hadn't responded to her charmspeak, but she had little time before she saw a dumbfounding sight through the one-way window at the front of the ship. A huge city sat in a depression at the bottom of the sea, but it seemed distorted for some reason, which confused Piper, until their ship passed through a strange dome, and ended up flying over the city.

It was built of shining white marble and all of the buildings looked like they belonged in Ancient Greece. Even though Piper was sure that the ships had gone far too deep for light to be reaching them from the surface, the city was illuminated as if it were noon. Piper stared at the buildings until her eyes alighted upon the palace in the center of the city and she felt her jaw drop. It was massive and was so beautiful that Piper was sure that only Olympus could have any buildings that could compete with its grandeur.

Piper was so dumbstruck by the building, that she only felt herself brought out of her shock when Alexandra proved what Piper had been certain of since they had descended under the surface of the ocean. "Welcome, my friends, to our home. Welcome to Atlantis."

**Okay, that ends this chapter, sorry if it wasn't up to snuff, I don't feel it's my best work, so sorry. And to stop any complaints, I checked the mythology and Atlantis definitely isn't Poseidon's palace. I've seen people mess it up before, I hadn't ever thought it was, but I wanted to make sure and I'll explain it the mythology later. And about the ships, Atlantis was known for its advanced technology, so I decided that they could be a source for the UFO's, which that was, which I will also explain later. **


	23. Piper IV

**A/N: I'm going to keep this very short. Thank you all for the reviews, now let's move onto the story. Oh, and Stephanie mandy Lee, if you would like to, yes, you can translate this story. I see no problem with that.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO. **

Piper IV

Piper couldn't believe what Alexandra had told the seven demigods, not even when they had landed on a street of pure white marble and began to walk toward the massive palace at the center of the city. She had read about Atlantis when her dad was preparing for his King of Sparta role. The city had been completely destroyed by floods and earthquakes and had eventually sunk beneath the sea.

Piper looked at the stone at her feet and it looked like nothing had ever touched it. There wasn't even a chip in the perfect stone. She looked at one of the buildings at the side of the road and it looked the same, perfect.

Piper walked up to Alexandra, and touched her on the shoulder. The beautiful woman turned to look at her. "What is it, my dear girl?" she asked, sounding sincerely concerned.

"You were joking before, weren't you?" Piper asked, keeping her voice quiet. "This isn't really Atlantis?"

Alexandra stared at her like she was crazy. "Of course this is Atlantis!" she exclaimed, drawing looks from other people on the street. "Why would I lie about something like that?"

"It's just that, well, Atlantis was destroyed like a billion years ago," Piper said, still trying to be quiet, though the princess had basically made the attempt to keep the conversation between them impossible.

The princess cocked her head. "Well, yes, our beautiful city was destroyed long ago, but haven't other cities been rebuilt?" Alexandra asked Piper earnestly.

This struck Piper for a moment. "Yeah, I guess," she admitted, "but most of them don't also sink below the ocean."

Alexandra chuckled. "That's true. Just please wait until we get to the palace. I promise I will explain everything once we get there."

Piper pursed her lips. She didn't trust these Atlantians, if that's what they really were, especially not when one of them kept looking at her out of the corner of his eye, and the rest kept glaring furiously at one of her friends. She looked at Alexandra's earnest expression and backed off, deciding to give the woman the benefit of the doubt. "Fine," Piper said quietly, "but I'm not waiting any longer than that."

Alexandra smiled and nodded her head enthusiastically. "You won't have to," she said, "I swear."

Piper backed away from Alexandra then, and could feel the others watching her as she did. She faded to the back of the group and kept walking, lost in thought. How had they gotten to this point? How had they come across a lost, sunken city? Why couldn't anything ever be simple for Piper and her friends?

"Hey," someone said next to Piper, pulling her from her thoughts. She looked to her right to see Jason there. "Are you cool?" he asked, concern in his bright eyes. "You look pretty freaked out."

"I'm fine," Piper lied. She was as far from fine as possible. She just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. She looked at Zale again and saw his eyes burning with anger as he stared at Jason.

Jason looked at her, his eyes betraying that he didn't believe her at all. "Are you sure?" he asked, his voice quiet and comforting.

Piper pursed her lips, and for a moment wanted to admit to Jason that she was scared, but then she remembered her earlier anger and thought better of it. "I fine, Sparky," she said, trying to be playful.

Jason still didn't seem convinced but he relented. "All right, if you're sure," he said. "Just don't worry. Nothing's going to happen to us here. These people seem nice enough, even if they are a little...suspicious."

Piper nodded. The Atlantians had been nice to all of them since they had landed at the island…well, all of them except Percy. Two Atlantian guards stood on either side of him, their hands on their swords. Percy didn't seem to care much, and Piper knew why. Under the sea, Percy was next to unstoppable. If those Atlantians came at him, they would have to bring an army to just scratch him. Piper looked at him again and saw Annabeth walking beside him, holding his hand, and whispering in his ear. Percy listened and nodded, and then whispered something to her in return.

Piper knew that they were thinking of a way to get out of there. Annabeth had the same nervous air around her that Piper felt. Without thinking, she felt her hand slide down to Katoptris. She gripped the hilt of the knife, as she looked at the pair of guards again. Their faces were hard, and she could tell they hated the idea of outsiders being on their island. She looked again at the faces of the people walking past, and though their expressions were polite enough, she saw a hard light in their eyes. They didn't like the heroes being there any more than the guards did. In fact, the only person who seemed genuinely happy about the demigods being there was Alexandra, who had a bounce in her step as they trekked toward the palace.

Piper looked at Jason again and said, "They might be more than a little suspicious."

Jason nodded, his own hand sliding to his _gladius_. The group walked on toward the palace, which seemed like a strange beast waiting to swallow up the group of demigods.

When the group finally reached the palace, Alexandra proclaimed, "Welcome, my friends, to my home! The Palace of Cleito, Mother of Atlantis! It is here that the royal family dwells, and it is here that our leaders now congregate to rule our fair city!"

"Didn't they rule from the temple of Poseidon?" Piper asked without thinking, and immediately regretted it. The guards all yelled and drew their swords, baring their teeth at Piper and moving toward her raising their swords as they did. Piper drew Katoptris as got into a fighting position even as all of her friends drew their own weapons and prepared for a fight.

"Stop this foolishness!" Alexandra yelled. The guards hesitated a moment, and then grudgingly sheathed their blades. The demigods lowered their weapons, but kept them ready, just in case. "She could not possibly know that this had changed!" Alexandra continued, and then turned to Piper. "They did rule there long ago, but no longer. The temple of Poseidon is a place cursed by my people, and anyone caught there is put to immediate death!"

"Why the hell is that?" Percy asked angrily. The guards swords came halfway out of their sheathes at this and they all glared at Percy. "What did my dad ever do to you guys?"

Alexandra turned to him. "Do you not know the story of our fall, Perseus?" she asked him disbelievingly.

Percy shrugged. "I just know it was destroyed. I never really paid attention when it came to its story," he said, flatly, his body tense as he looked at the guards.

"You can't be serious, Percy!" the princess exclaimed. "This story should have been very close to you! We are your kin, after all!"

"What?" Percy shouted in disbelief, looking at each Atlantian as if he just noticed they were there.

"It is true," Alexandra said, and then took a deep breath before she began her story. "Some 11,000 years ago, Atlantis still stood in the open air. At the time, Atlantis was one of the most powerful kingdoms in existence. We controlled much of Egypt Europe, and we were set to conquer even more. But in one battle, against the cursed Athenians, we lost. It was on this day that we suffered our greatest travesty. Our great father, Poseidon, turned against. He shook our halls until they crumbled to dust, he flooded our fields and drowned our people, and, as the ultimate treachery, he sunk our great city, intending to take back what he had given us. Atlantis would have been lost forever if not for those of us that escaped Athens, the refugees that escaped the sinking city, and those few of us in our territories. When all was said and done, no more than a thousand of our people had escaped the destruction of our great home. We had only a small amount of our famed technology and a number of our greatest thinkers left. We did not have the power to retain our conquered territories and they would soon have turned against us, so we did the only thing we could, we ran. We traveled to the lands across the sea, and began to rebuild there."

"We met a race of savage people there, and we helped those people to become great. Over time, these people developed into the Mayans, due to our help. We gave them much, but we soon began to yearn for our old land, though we never told the Mayans where we had come from, only that we came from the east. We told the Mayans that we would leave them, but one day we would return and bring them to a new level of greatness. We traveled to where we knew our city had sunken, and traveled through the depths to the great city. With the help of our now revitalized people and thinkers, we created a dome over our city that would take air from the sea around it. We rebuilt our great buildings and made this palace anew. The only building we left in disrepair was the temple of Poseidon, for we now felt only hatred for that dark god. And thus, some 8,000 years after the destruction of our great city, it was reborn."

Alexandra let her voice fade, and Piper could feel the sadness she felt for the ancient destruction of her city, and looking at the guards, Piper could tell they felt the same way as Alexandra.

"My-my dad wouldn't do that, would he?" Percy asked, his voice small and his eyes large.

"He would and he did," Alexandra said. Percy looked down, and Piper could tell he felt terrible. She would feel the same way if her mom had tried to destroy a whole race of people, but she also felt like there was more to the story than Alexandra let on. Looking at Annabeth, Piper's belief was turned to conviction by the furious light in her eye.

Alexandra spread her arms and said, "Now let us forget these sad thoughts. The past is past, and we have no qualm with you Percy, so I say we let bygones be bygones and give our guests a proper show of our hospitality!"

The guards consented grudgingly, and walked the group into the palace. "I am sure you would like the chance to clean yourselves after your long journey, so I will have the bathing rooms prepared for you while our servants show you to your rooms," Alexandra said, and then clapped her hands. Five small women with raven black hair came from nowhere and rushed toward the Alexandra.

"Yes, my lady?" the women all asked while they looked at the ground.

"Take my guests to their rooms and then show them to the bath house," Alexandra commanded firmly.

"Yes, my lady," the women all said, giving the princess a curtsy.

The women came toward the group of demigods and each said, "Follow us," and walked down a passageway. The demigods shared a significant glance and then followed the women down the passage.

The woman led them to a set of three doors and said, "These will be your rooms. The girls will share this one," they indicated the room on the right, "and the boys will share these two," they indicated the doors on the left, "you will find clothes on the beds. Please tell us when you are ready to go to the royal bathhouse."

The women then moved out of the way, and allowed the demigods to enter their separate rooms. Annabeth immediately entered the room, and after sharing a glance, Piper and Hazel followed. Piper nearly fell over when she got into the room. There were three large, four-poster beds with silk sheets and blankets. The walls were covered with a mural showing a beautiful woman surrounded by crashing waves, except for one, which was a massive window. There were beautiful, silk dresses on the beds, along with what looked like blue bikinis.

"Oh, my gods," was all that Piper could say. The room was nicer than any five star hotel suites her dad had stayed in. She walked up to a dresser, which was so intricately carved and painted, it looked like a piece of the sea that had been turned solid.

"You know, for how much these guys hate Poseidon, they seem to have a lot of things dedicated to the sea," Hazel said. Piper looked at her and saw her staring at the woman in the mural. "Hey, who is this anyway?"

"That's probably Cleito," Annabeth said. "And you're right, Hazel. This doesn't make sense. Why would they have so much stuff dedicated to the sea, if they hate the Sea God so much?"

"Maybe old habits die hard," Piper said, uncertainly.

"Maybe…," Annabeth said, sounding unconvinced, and then she shook herself. "It doesn't matter, all that matters is us getting out of here as quickly as possible."

"Why?" Hazel exclaimed. "These people haven't hurt us and I think a rest is in order, after the fight with the Kraken."

"These people have almost killed us twice now Hazel," Annabeth said. "We can't risk staying here in case some of those guards decide that we would be better off with our throats slit."

"I just can't see that happening," Hazel said.

"Hazel," Annabeth retorted, "these people haven't even told us what really happened. Do you want to know why their island was sunk? It was because their leaders were corrupt! They were power hungry and were going to conquer the whole world. They went to South America and acted like gods! Poseidon took them out because they had broken the laws that he had set down for them since Atlantis was founded. He didn't even make the decision! Zeus ordered their destruction because they were too corrupted."

Piper couldn't believe what she had just heard. "That can't be what really happened!" she exclaimed.

"It is Piper," Annabeth said emotionlessly. "These people lied to us, so we would feel bad for them. They were like the original Sodom and Gomorra. They earned their destruction, and I don't want us to be here because these guys obviously haven't learned their lesson."

"What do you mean?" Hazel asked, her voice quiet, as if she was afraid someone was listening to their conversation.

"They told the Mayan's they would one day return," Annabeth explained. "They intended to return when they were as powerful as they were in the old days and conquer the New World. I'm sure they would move on to Europe and Africa again after they took the Americas and they would try to conquer the world, again. Truthfully, the Native Americans were probably lucky that the Spanish and Portuguese ended up taking over, instead of the Atlantians."

"You mean…," Piper said.

"I mean," Annabeth continued, "we're in the middle of a city that wants to eventually take over the world. In fact, I'm pretty sure these guys are intending to start their conquest soon."

"How did you reach that point?" Piper asked, truly shocked.

"Gaea is rising, and the Atlantians have to know that," Annabeth said. "And, if they do, they will probably fight for her so they can take over and rule under the Giants." She paused, and took a breath before saying, "I think that they probably have a plan for us. I don't know what their intending, but I think they brought us here for a very bad reason."

**Okay, that's the end of this chapter. Sorry if it's not very good, but I'm not exactly in the best of health and that may have affected my writing, so yeah. Still, I hope you enjoyed it. **


	24. Author's Note 2

**A/N: Hello, everyone, I'm sorry if you thought this was a chapter, but it's not. Thank you all for your patience waiting for the next chapter, and I am sorry it has taken so long for me to update, but I am even more sorry for what I must tell you next. I am discontinuing both of my stories. I have hit a wall with both of them and cannot figure out how I want to go on with them. On top of that, I wish to work on some other projects and I would like to put as much of my energy into them as possible, and I cannot do that if I am worrying about these stories. Once more, I would like to apologize for the long delay and this news, but I feel that I need to do this. I hope all of you enjoyed these stories. **


	25. Leo III

Jay And nevergivein69 would like to present (but cannot due to the rights belonging to MasterWriter Rick)Chapter 25 ( we do not own PJO or HoA...don't sue us.)

Leo III

Man Leo was loving this deluxe hotel service or something like that. I mean Leo did have some...uneasiness with the guy called Zale, and the fact that he shoved them into a room and slammed the door shut, but when he looked at the interior of the room all the worries melted away. It was like a ordinary suite but ocean-ized. A window opened up to the blackness of the ocean and Leo could see huge shapes moving around the ocean. There were matching four-poster beds for all of them with the blankets labeled Atlantis, and just what Leo was looking for: The room service menu. Leo whistled, "Either it's me, or prison is not what it used to be."

Percy looked around for any weird signs, a camera or maybe a trigger for double chain saw blades. "Everything here looks pretty normal," he said, before adding, "Of course we shouldn't put our guard down."

Frank opened one of the cabinets and found four sea blue swimming trunks, all embedded with Oceanus's Atlantic Resort. "If I remember," he said, "Oceanus was a Titan."

Percy explained that he was the sea god before Poseidon, and perhaps one of the more neutral Titans. "Still," he warned, "It didn't stop him from trying to destroy my dad's palace in the second war."

Finally, Leo couldn't take it anymore. "Guys, can we stop talking and start doing?" he held up his swimming suit, "I'd prefer a fiery red color, but it's better than nothing." Jason snatched the swimming suit away from Leo, "HEY!" Leo tried grabbing the trunks, but Jason was just too fast for Leo. "Now you have to promise me, Leo,_ promise _me that you won't run off so we can't find you when something happens." Jason warned, "I don't like the look of Zale or his sword. We gotta stick together."

Then Leo remembered, "Guys, wait for just one second, I have something I want to give you."

"Ooooooooh Holy Zeus it's a water park." Leo's eyes widened as he looked at the _'bath_' which was more of a water park with huge slides, diving boards, a snack bar, arcade zone, _and _about a hundred pools with all sorts of herbs and medicinal crap in 'em. There were people, mainly fishmen and women, but there were humans too, minor godlings by the look of it all, chilling out in the pools.

_ And just in time_, Leo thought to himself, _The ladies. _Annabeth, Piper, and Hazel walked towards them in blue bikinis from the women's changing room.

"This is sooo creepy." Annabeth glanced around her before whispering, "The rooms practically have everything for us. And I mean _everything_." And to prove her point she said even the swimsuits matched sizes.

Percy managed to say, "Uh...you look great." _Poor dude, he's all brain dead_, Leo thought.

Hazel smiled to Frank and he blushed like one of Apollo's cows.

"Oh! I almost forgot the watches." he took out the watches and handed them out, "It's a watch I made. Its main purpose is tracking and communication but it does tell time too. Waterproof up to pressure equaled to about the Marina Trench, it's my newest and greatest invention... besides the Argo II of course."

They each took one of them and tried it on, "Just be careful not to take it off. It charges using skin contact so if you take it off it has about a five-hour period before it dies out. Percy and Jason have the master watches so all one of them has to do is "_Click!" _to turn the tracking on and we can see, and talk to each other."

The heroes all stared at their watches, and then looked up at Leo.

Annabeth swallowed, and said, "Thanks, Leo. These are—they're great. I just wish we had had them before." Annabeth's eyes flicked toward Percy before she looked at the ground.

Percy put his arm around Annabeth and looked at Leo. "Yeah, man, thanks. Just…thanks."

Leo blushed, and looked toward the ground. "Well, aw shucks fellas, I'm just a simple Texas-boy, and your praise is just like my mema's French Fried Potatoers. Strangely sweet and just a little bit creep," he said in a Texan accent.

Then Leo's eyes flicked back to the pool, "Now come on guys, let's have some fun. The entire helmsmen/repair boy is taking its toll on me" And to prove it he fell to the ground and started crawling toward the pools like a man stuck in the desert.

The heroes chuckled, but Jason hesitated and said, "I guess there's no harm in having fun-" Leo sped away, "LEO! Gods he's fast," he shook his head and said. "Well, I guess the last one to the slide pays for the food," He took Piper's hand as Percy took Annabeth's, "Race you guys to the slide."

**Author's Note**

**The number of writers**** has changed to 2 ****writers. My name is Jay and I will be collaborating alongside nevergivein69 on the Mark of Athena. As for the Inheritance Novel I'm sorry but I never really liked Christopher Paolini's **_**Eragon**_** so I'm afraid that one is out of my hands. And**** I am also looking for some help of describing Rome/ Greece in the 20th century so please I would appreciate some help with the geographical and historical thingies and**** what not. Okay so...****that's about it, and I apologize for muting Frank, Haze****l, and Piper but err I didn't see any use for them talking so please bear with me.**

**And this is nevergivein69. As you can see from the above paragraph, and likely from the new chapter, this story is no longer discontinued, but it is also no longer solely my**** writing. I have given Jay my blessing and he will be doing the better part of the writing from here on in and I will act as more or less of a consultant. Now, this may annoy some of you, and that's fine, but please have some self-restraint. Jay is a great**** writer and he simply wants to finish a story that he enjoyed a great deal. And to any trollers, I have something to say to you, and the rest of my readers, you may just want to skip this next part because it will be…vulgar. Now, back to the trolls. Go fuc****k yourselves, you stupid fucking assholes. I realize the temptation to dick around without any real consequences gives you monkey-brained, shit-throwing degenerates hard-ons, but seriously just go jerk off to porn like a normal person. This is a simple hob****by for most people and they just want to enjoy it without some guys masturbating to insulting kids and imaging using their tears as lubricant and cumming all over their dreams…and bodies. Now, thank all of you, for your reviews, and, if I may quote this, "****Go suck a cock!"**


	26. Percy V

**Nevergivein69: okay we are going to extract the rights directly from his mind.**

**Jay: what? You mean like the movie Inception?**

**N69: exactly. it's risky but I think we can really get it this way.**

**Jay: but we need the subject. How are we going to find him?**

**N69: I already did. *opens closet and Rick falls out* here he is**

**Jay: Jesus! That's not REALLY him!... my god it is him... :D**

**N69: Now we do Extraction... hehehehe... but until then we don't own PJO or HoO**

** Percy**

Percy was having the time of his life. There was this big circular floatie at the center of a gigantic pool resembling an arena where two people would try to push each other into the pool using various objects. Annabeth cheered from the sidelines and gave Percy a kiss each time he won. Percy _really_ liked when he won. Percy won every single match until a familiar person faced Percy, "Why hello," Jason said, grinning cockily. "I thought we could decide the winner of capture the flag."

"Good idea," replied Percy, "I'll just smack you around again, just to teach you a lesson."

Jason's grinned widened. "How about the loser buys food and drinks, then?" Jason bet.

" Only if you're prepared to lose money."

"You're on."

Percy was going to the snack bar to buy food for Annabeth, Piper, and Jason, courtesy of the cheap arena floors that Percy slipped on, making him fall into the water. As Percy walked towards the snack bar, he saw Frank running around, presumably looking for Hazel. Percy was standing in line when a voice said, "Enjoying ourselves are we?"

Percy looked and saw Mr. D wearing shades and a leopard skin Speedo, something he'd thought he wouldn't even see in Hades. "I thought you were having a little _t__oo_ much fun, so I may have bumped the floatie, or something…," Mr. D said, innocently. Then he burped and continued, "Now, Perry get me a Diet Coke, would you. Oh, and make sure there's a cherry on it." Mr. D waved his hand, as if sending a servant away.

Percy rolled his eyes, "What do you want?"

"The Coke, Percival, if you don't mind." Percy rolled his eyes, but got Dionysus the drink, anyway.

Dionysus sipped his cola, after Percy handed it to him, and sighed, "Ah. That does feel better. Now Peter, I don't have much time, so save the questions for later, like when I'm not here or something. You are at the palace of Oceanus."

Percy suddenly felt as if a monster would jump out of the pool and try to tear his face off. "Oh, don't be alarmed," said Dionysus. "He really has mellowed out throughout the years. He even introduced me to Hall of Heroes. A lot better than Pac-man." Mr. D made a fist and growled, "and that ridiculous Blinky."

"Now Pedro, I have come to give you a bit of a news flash. You are aware that the Nero boy was snooping around the Doors of Death?" Percy nodded, "Well, Nemo found out that the Doors opening was not entirely bad for us. So before he got captured, Norbert made a deal with some... souls that in exchange for helping him, he would get them into the Isles of the Blest, without the three rebirths required. He knows that the gods need as much help as possible." Mr. D rolled forward without stopping.

" Also, as you go further-"

"Who do you mean?" Percy cut in.

"Don't interrupt me Jablonski! And further-," Mr. D stopped, "Wait, what?"

"Who did Nico bring back?" Percy asked.

" … Oh, some of them were quite famous in their time. They will help you throughout your quest." Percy started to ask more but Mr. D waved his hand, "I don't know much more than you do at this time Pierre, I am only telling you what I know. Now, listen. As you go further and further into Rome and Greece, the monsters will be unlike anything you have _ever_ faced before." Mr. D warned, "The reason being that they are on their home turf, and partly because Gaea wants to kill you brats and feed you to them for lunch. You must work together, as a whole, if you are to survive, which must be quite hard for you and Jerry Grape. Now, any questions?"

Percy had about a million but he was too scared to hear the answers. "I... will we fail?"

Mr. D sighed and took his shades off, and Percy saw fear in the wine god's eyes, Percy had never seen a god look that way before. "I do not know Percy." said Mr. D, "Even if you manage to close the Doors, we, the gods, are not prepared to take on such an army. If Gaea starts another war, we cannot win. The rest of the gods are trying to convince Zeus to fight alongside you heroes, but you have humiliated Zeus quite a bit. He refuses to fight with heroes.

They sat in silence for a while until Dionysus gave a start and said, "I almost forgot the gifts."

Mr. D conjured a bag and gave it to Percy. " This is from Hermes. It's a new contraption that he made with Hephaestus and your father. You should wait to open it with the others."

Percy took the bag and felt small boxes inside it, "Why are you helping me? I thought you hated demigods."

"Perhaps. But I have taken a liking to you brats…well, somewhat," Mr. D mused. "Plus, you make me feel young. And I do not wish for Olympus to fall, and I certainly do not want the end of humanity, they are such entertaining creatures." Mr. D stood up, "Before I leave Percy," he said, "your father wanted me to say that he will watch over you, and that he misses you."

Percy felt a lump form in his throat. His dad was watching over him. It felt reassuring. "Thanks, Mr. D."

Dionysus was expressionless, "I thought we hated each other. Good- bye Percy Jackson, and may the will of the gods be with you." Dionysus folded like a paper display and just like that, he was gone.

_Meanwhile, far, far away, like in America, not another galaxy, that's just ridiculous..._

_ Thalia crouched to find Lycaon's trail. The Hunters had been looking for days, and finally the signs just ended. Phoebe addressed Thalia, "Could he be dead? I mean, who could have killed him?"_

_ Thalia looked around the mountain. Thalia felt they were being watched, the wolves were content however, and the falcons rested on their shoulders. "Thalia, look!"_

_ A blinding light engulfed the atmosphere and Thalia saw figures walking towards them. "Hold your fire!" Thalia ordered. "Stay on your guard, but don't kill until I give the order."_

_ "It has been a long time since I have last seen thee, Sister."_

_ Thalia's eyes widened as she stumbled away from the tall, black-haired figure before her. "It can't be," she muttered_

_ "It is," Zoe Nightshade said. "It seems we have much to talk about."_

**Jay's A/N**

**Here ****it is, the long awaited chapter 26. Yes, I brought back Zoe Nig****htshade. This might piss you off, but I want to say there will be more to come. Next chapter will be in Frank's perspective... that's about it.**

**N69's A/N**

** Hey guys, sorry for the delay, I've had an illness of a sort that shouldn't be spoken of in polite company, so stories haven't really been high on my list of priorities, but here it is! So, thanks for the reviews, and hope you all like the chapter.**

**P.S. If you didn't know the first chapter of the real MoA is out, so you guys should probably read it. It's pretty awesome.**

**Author****'****s Note**

**People! I know that you will say ' DIONYSUS WAS OUT OF CHARACTER! FUCKER! OMG HE SUCKS!' but I wanted Dionysus to ' grow up' and care for Percy genuinely and I wanted to make a respectful thingy for Percy and Dionysus after everything they went through. I wanted Percy and Dionysus to hate each other so much that they started to have a love-hate thing going on. Peace. Next chapter will have some action and I will reveal the content of the bag.**

**Written by Jaykayy**

**Edited, Revised, and Advised by, nevergivein69**


	27. Frank III

I do not own PJ or HoA

Frank III

Frank was looking for Hazel. They were playing hide and seek, which was pretty childish if you ask Frank, but Frank obliged. Anyway, Frank was running around looking for Hazel when he bumped into a boy and the impact threw him into one of the pools. He came up cursing, "Ack! Watch where you're going!"

"S-sorry!" Frank stammered, "I didn't see you—You just—Gods!" Frank lent him a hand. The boy stared at Frank's hand, glanced at Frank, and pulled Frank into the water.

"Again," Frank said for the thousandth time, "I'm really sorry about the whole," Frank gestured to the boy's clothes, "you know."

The boy laughed, "Yeah, well... I got you, too. What was all that running about anyway?"

"Oh, I was looking for someone... or rather playing hide and seek with her."

The boy stared at Frank, "Honestly, I was."

The boy started laughing again. "So, what's your name?"

"Frank."

"Hi Frank, I'm Lucian."

"You here with your parents?" questioned Frank.

"Oh... yeah, I am. My whole family is here."Frank could sense Lucian was holding something back, but Frank decided not to push him about it. "So, Frank, what about you?"

Frank hesitated. _W__hat should I say_, Frank thought. "I'm here with my friends, seven of us, just chilling."

Lucian frowned. "Seven of you?" he asked cautiously

_Too late. _"Uh... yeah," said Frank.

Lucian nodded, "Seven... Demigods, I presume, on a quest that will save the world on a whim?"

"How did you-"

Lucian smiled, "Gossip, Frank. Besides, Olympus tabloids give news that never happened five days in advance. Particularly nasty, that daughter of Athena."

"Annabeth?"

Lucian shook his head, "Don't know much about the names, but the daughter of Athena has something nasty planned, she has."

"Who are you?" Frank stammered.

Lucian continued as if he never heard Frank. "Also, the sons of Zeus and Poseidon are going to have some conflicting leadership problems, so I'd prepare for a battle between them at the very least...maybe even a war. And as for who I am... I don't think I should tell you yet Franky, if I may call you that." Lucian grinned, "Rest assured, I am not your enemy, although, I'm not someone that you should be pushing into pools."

Frank might as well have been a deer and Lucien a speeding truck with the way he stared at him.

_Ring! Ring!_

"Sorry about this," Lucian conjured a sleek black phone out of thin air. "Yeah? Oh! It's that time already? Yeah. Yeah I got it." Lucian suddenly stood. "Sorry Frank, but I have a emergency thing-a-majiggy I gotta attend. But don't you worry, baby," Lucian raised his eyebrows, "I'll see you _real_ soon, buddy." Lucian jumped towards the water and melted.

Frank sighed, conjuring phones, melting into water, even kids had better abilities than Frank.

"Hey! Frank!" Hazel jogged over to where moments before, Lucian was standing. "Did I hide too good?" She laughed, "I hid around the sand dunes but then-" Hazel noticed Frank's expression, " Are you alright Frank?"

"Yeah... I'm fine," lied Frank. "I was just thinking about some stuff."

Hazel leaned forward and put a hand on Frank's forehead. Hazel's face was so close to Frank's, he could count the eyelashes on her face. Suddenly, the watch started to vibrate and startled them. Jason's voice came out. "I spotted Zale with a couple of guards and judging from his sword drawn, he's not here to ride the slides. Everyone, let's meet back at the room."

Frank looked at Hazel, "That doesn't sound good."

**Jay's A/N** **This was something of a chapter killer, since I needed to bring Zale in so he could bring a world ****of pain all over the Seven's backside... in a few chapters. I know you will be disappointed in this one, but please bear with me. Also people that need updates, faith on me working my butt off on chapters, etc. PM me anytime ( As long as my iPhone has batt****ery, It's running a little low right now.) If you guys have the same brain wave frequency as I have, You probably will figure out who Lucian is ( I had to change the bastards name like ten times to make it sound familiar) Cool then people, Jay's out.**

**N69's A/N: Sorry guys, I didn't notice the paragraph problem, but I think I fixed it. And hopefully it won't happen again.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Deep inside the recess of Rick Riordan's mind. JayKayy and nevergivein69 are being attacked by hordes of Chuck Norris riding a tiger while Requeim for a Dream plays in the background***

**Jay: Its no use! * Kicks one Chuck Norris in the face* The projections are tearing us into pieces!**

**Nevergivein69: It was nice working with you partner.**

*** CHAARRGE!***

***Suddenly Slash appears out of nowhere, drives a car down a cliff into an army of Norris, and revives at the top of the cliff while playing a badass solo.***

**Jay and nevergivein69: Slash!**

**Slash: Welcome to the Jungle babies, or as I like to call it, * puts on aviator shades* Slash's Snakepit.**

**CHHHEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHH! WE GON' GET FOO' AGAIN! **

** We still don't own the rights to PJO or HoO, but atleast we met Slash.**

Jason

Jason was chatting with Annabeth and Piper, when all of a sudden Zale appeared with several men. Zale stared coldly at their direction and barked several orders.

"Annabeth, Pipes." Jason gestured to where Zale was standing with his chin.

"I don't think he's here for the waterslides." Jason went into full command mode and told everyone to meet back at the boy's room. "_Fatuus._"_Idiot. _Jason cursed. _Leo. _"Leo! Come in Leo! Where are you man!"

Leo

Leo cursed, he was so close to winning Hall of Heroes. Leo found out that near the bar, there was a computer room where you can _only_ play Hall of Heroes.

" Leo Valdez, I am under orders to locate and bring you to the throne room."

Leo turned around, it was one of the guards that commandeered the Argo II. "Yeah sorry," said Leo, "but I'm a little busy for fish fry."

The guard pulled out his sword, _uh oh. _"This is not up for debate. I suggest you come quietly."

Leo didn't have his tool belt, and he couldn't burst into flame over here, it would cause too much unwanted attention. Leo did the most courageous, smartest, and bravest thing he could think of. He ran.

Frank

Frank took Hazel's hand. He said breathlessly, "Come on! We have to get to the rendezvous point!"

A towering figure cast a shadow over Frank and Hazel. "Come quietly, or risk humiliation and a painful death," the deep voice said tauntingly.

"Hmm," said Frank, "that sounds nice and all, but…"

Frank changed into a gorilla, and punched the man so hard that he flew ten feet and did not get up. "Then that happened."

Frank turned to Hazel and gave her an exaggerated bow. "After you, my lady," he said.

Percy

Percy was thinking about his conversation with Dionysus when he felt his watch go off. _Zale at ent__rance, meet at __ room. _Percy made it to the door of the room, when he felt the cold metal of a blade pressed against the small of his back.

"I could not believe master would invite a piece of scum like you to our haven," Zale sneered. "But no need to worry, my master is busy, and quite forgetful. I'll kill you quickly to save your grace."

Time slowed down. Percy spun around, dug into his pocket, and parried the blade with Riptide. Zale counter attacked and Percy was pushed back by brute force. Percy had seen many masterful blade wielders in his time, and Zale, needless to say, was among the elite. Zale faked a blow to the right and swept Percy's feet out under him. The point of the blade brushed his chin.

"Fool," taunted Zale. "I was born to protect my master, not even you seven together could beat me."

Percy grit his teeth. "I should teach you some humility, then," he growled.

Percy kicked the blade up and rolled to his feet. _If only I had a shield,_he thought. Percy tried to break through Zale's defenses, but he was like a machine, he disarmed Percy with a flick of his sword.

"What now son of Poseidon?" Zale gloated. "Nothing awaits you but death by my hands. I will avenge the people of Atlantis, and have your father kneel before me. Acknowledge your defeat and die!"

As Zale moved in for the kill, a boy appeared out of thin air. "Zale!" he exclaimed. "What did master say about killing people before dinner?"

Immediately Zale's face changed. Zale sheathed his sword and helped Percy get up. "You're lucky _he's _here to save your hide," Zale whispered in Percy's ear.

The boy pushed Zale aside and shook Percy's hand, "Hello, Perseus Jackson. I have heard _a lot_ about you from my brothers." He gestured with his hand, "Please, after you."

Annabeth

Annabeth wished Percy was next to her. Jason was leading them back towards the room when three men stepped forward and blocked them. Jason did not have a weapon, Annabeth _could _use the gift she got from Athena, but it seemed too horrible to use. "Please come with us." They said, "Our master awaits you."

A boy appeared between them. "Please," The boy said, " I have rounded up the others. This is not an attack, it is an invitation."

Jason grit his teeth, "I guess we don't have much choice."

The boy smiled, "Wonderful."

Frank

After Frank sent the man flying, Lucian appeared again and told them they did not wish to fight. "You're one of them?" asked Frank.

Lucian shook his head, "Same kind of race, but I'm more of a... royalty compared to them. Follow me, Frank, Ma'am."

They went through a secret passageway and stopped at a golden door. "Your friends are already here. Please go on and I will see you shortly."

Lucian vanished.

Frank swallowed and said to Hazel, "Shall we?"

Percy

Percy learned to trust the boy more than Zale. The boy was polite, with curly black hair, and a tan complexion, but he wore a suit, which Percy found odd. The boy led Percy into a room and vanished. "Percy?"

Annabeth tackled Percy, "Gods Seaweed Brain, I thought they killed you."

Jason clapped Percy on the shoulder, "We got saved by a kid," he said, shaking his head, "something tells me you did too."

"Jason? Percy?"

Frank and Hazel joined the group. They waited, _Leo._ Then they started hearing echoes around the room. "Ow! Let me go! My friend will be _so_ over you!"

Leo burst through a door. "Ouch!" he cried.

Jason ran up and smacked Leo on the head. "Ow! What was that for?" Leo groaned.

"For being an idiot," said Jason, "but I'm glad you're alive."

"HEROES!" An impressive voice ran throughout the halls, "BOW TO THE MASTER OF THIS PALACE!"

They had no choice but to kneel. The boy that saved Percy changed into a toga, and a golden laurel wreath. Frank did some sort of dance, "Lu-"

The boy smiled and nodded towards Frank, "I told you I'll see you soon. But I am sorry I lied to you Frank, my name is not Lucian."

'Lucian' sat down on the throne made of seashell. "I trust no one got hurt along the journey?" he said nonchalantly, like most of them hadn't been basically kidnapped.

"That guy was walking all over me!" Leo shouted.

"Yes, well... I saw no point projecting myself to you too, Leo," Lucian grinned. "You were doing just fine."

"Who are you?" Percy asked.

Lucian smiled and started to glow. Lucian grew larger and larger, into an adult. And when the glow died out, Percy saw he had flowing white hair with two large black bull's horns curling up from the locks, a well muscled body, and eyes of liquid gold that seemed to pierce right through Percy and peer into his soul.

"I," He said in a booming voice, like angry waves on a beach, "am Oceanus. And I welcome you all, Heroes of Olympus."

**Jay's A/N**

**BOOM SHAKALAKALAKA! And the truth is out. I wrote it all in almost all of the heroes perspective. I wanted a sort of movie like thing. Nyeh, enjoy ladidoes and gentlemaneus. Also, I'd like to address some reviews. First Mr. RobotChickenMan, I would sincerely like to apologize for my rude reply for your review. I honestly would like to say I am sorry, and that it was unjust for me to attack you verbally.**

**Leo rocks: If this review was for me, I am making a story, but it's stuck like the Titanic was.**

**Son of Neptune: That's two times you spammed now, one more and something will happen.**

**N69's A/N**

**As you can guess, I have very little to write here. I will simply say, thank all of you for your reviews, especially you Son of Neptune, that was very nice of you to write, though you should probably refrain from posting it again, and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. **


	29. Percy VI

**In a random desert, two wolves, and Rickrunner face off. ( A break from the Slash series.)**

***Meep meep* * vrooom!~***

**Jay Kaioti and NevergiveintoRickrunner * Holds a humungous anvil on top of a cliff**

**'meep meep!'**

**NGITR: I think I should tell you, a fortune teller told me to beware of anvils.**

**Jay: shhh! Wait for it... Okay Drop! Drop it!...NGITR?**

**(Jay sees an anvil and two legs sticking out)**

**Jay: *sigh... We do not own PJO or HoO.**

** Percy**

Percy remembered how frail his father looked and felt rage towards the Titan, "You!" he exclaimed, drawing his sword and rushing at Oceanus. He didn't make it two steps before the guards had their swords at his throat. "You bastard! You nearly killed my father! What do you intend to do now? Kill me and my friends because you Titans lost? Hold us for ransom or something?"

"No, no, no Percy!" Oceanus said, shaking his head vigorously. "I mean no harm to you or your friends. And I apologize for my part in Kronos' mad scheme. My brother can be very convincing when he wants to be." Percy opened his mouth to argue, but Oceanus stopped him. "Besides, I fixed my nephew's game room, Hades, I even made him a home theater, with automated popcorn servers!"

Leo whistled. "That actually sounds pretty nice," Leo said before turning to Percy. "Dude, can we stop off at your Dad's before headin' to Rome?"

Percy glared at Leo until he looked like he wanted to turn into a turtle and hide in his shell.

Oceanus nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Valdez," Oceanus said then looked at Percy, again, "Percy, I realize you're angry, but we don't have time to dwell on old hurts, for we have more important things to discuss."

Frank raised his hand, "Wait, what are you doing with Atlantians?"

"Thank you for asking that, Frank," Oceanus said with a mischievous smile, "You see, I believe Alexandra told you about this, but the Atlantians were one of the most powerful races in the history of man. They were so powerful that even the gods began to fear them."

"So Zeus, in all of his divine stupidity," Oceanus continued with a roll of his eyes, "had Poseidon sink their beautiful city. I stumbled upon them during my journey through the seven seas, and I met the most sophisticated group of mortals in my eternal life. "

Percy saw Zale leaning near the doorway, looking bored. "So I simply helped them rise to their feet, and in gratitude, they built me this wonderful palace!"

"I heard they plan to join Gaea, will you join her side?" Annabeth questioned.

"I will not partake in anymore wars, my debt is already bad enough with fixing Poseidon's game room once...," he muttered scuffing his sandals on the floor "As for the Atlantians…I am not their king Ms. Chase. If they choose to side with Gaea, then I cannot stop them."

Oceanus stopped and shook his head. "Dear me, did you ever get any dinner?" he questioned

"No," said Leo indignantly. "We were too busy being chased by fish-people to grab a bite at a sushi bar or anything."

Piper stepped on Leo's foot. "What Leo means is, we were a little...busy," she said, sweetly. Oceanus nodded. "Very well," he said, "you will dine with me, then."

Oceanus stood up and motioned for them to follow. Percy put an arm around Annabeth and walked forward. Zale walked up to Oceanus, but Oceanus waved him off, "Don't you have any better things to do, my boy?"

Zale looked like he was about to stab someone...which wasn't much different than usual. "No my lord, I am afraid I do not."

Oceanus scowled, " Then find something constructive to do, as opposed trying to kill guests."

Oceanus pushed Zale aside and continued.

"Um... excuse us?"

Zale noticed Percy, "I should have killed you when I had the chance."

Zale stepped aside and faced Piper, Zale ran a finger down her cheek, "Perhaps you would like to have dinner with me, daughter of Aphrodite."

Piper looked like she was about to vomit. "N-no," she forced out, apparently trying to keep the puke back. "I think I'll just go to the dinner with the nice, not creepy, murdering fish-guys."

Zale didn't take his hand off of Piper's cheek, so Jason walked up to him and roughly pushed him aside. "Listen," he growled, "I realize it's hard for thick-skulled bastards like you to think that you aren't the gods' gift to the world, but trust me, if you ever touch Piper again, I swear on the River Styx, I'll show you why Krios isn't hanging with his brother, down here."

Percy saw the amused expression on Zale's face, but he felt that beneath the smile, there was something bad_. _"Very well, son of Zeus."

Zale bowed mockingly and stepped aside.

"HEROES! PEOPLE WOULD THINK THAT YOU'RE TRAPPED WITH KRONOS WITH FEET LIKE THAT!" Oceanus yelled impatiently.

They caught up to Oceanus in front of another secret door, this time made of iron. Oceanus raised an eyebrow. "I trust you never had dinner before at our resort?" He asked.

Leo shook his head. Oceanus grinned and continued, "Then, prepare to be stunned."

Slowly, Oceanus opened the door, and even Percy was stunned by the sheer size of the dining room, though that didn't make him trust Oceanus.

Leo's eyes were as wide as the moon, "Did you say you were single?"

Oceanus shook his head.

"Son of a bitch! Well do you need a mistress, then?"

The dining room was roughly the size of a cathedral, with an open kitchen, Percy could see the chefs bring in a giant squid, still alive and squirming, and manage to grill the thing alive, which he wasn't exactly cool with. "The chefs are automatons," Oceanus explained. "I created them when all the Cyclops went to Poseidon's palace. I prefer them to the Cyclops, since they do not occasionally eat the meal…on accident, of course."

Oceanus motioned them forward. "Shall we?" he asked with a smile.

In the center of the room, there was a human sized rectangular dining room table, with eight chairs. Oceanus took the main seat. Percy pulled out Annabeth's chair.

"Why, thank you, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth told him with mock formality, before sitting down and sticking her tongue out at him.

Jason and Frank did the same for Piper and Hazel, respectively, though neither received any sarcasm, and Leo kicked his chair out and sat down. The first course came out, and, after taking the first bite, Leo turned to Jason and moaned, "Please dude, just kill me now, so I can die this happy."

Oceanus smiled and turned back into a boy. "Enjoy everyone," he said, before digging in himself.

Percy attempted to resist eating to spite Oceanus, but he eventually gave out and took a bite of the squid. It was the single most delicious thing he had ever tasted, like a mixture of steak, chocolate chip cookies, and ambrosia prepared by the god of chefs. While they dined, Oceanus asked each and everyone about themselves, and how well they knew their parents. Leo made Oceanus laugh, as opposed to pissing him off, which Percy was grateful for, but Oceanus seemed to favor Frank more than any of others.

"Frank has been kind to me during his short stay here," Oceanus explained, when he noticed how Percy looked from one to the other, before turning to look at Frank, "and I'd like to say... you are welcome to play hide and seek with Hazel here whenever you'd like, Frank."

Frank choked on his lobster and coughed while Hazel laughed. "Uh... thanks Lucian…I mean, Oceanus...err, sir"

Annabeth set her silverware down and finally turned to Oceanus. "Lord, forgive me for my impertinence, but do you know anything about the Doors of Death that could help us on our quest?"

Oceanus gagged on the piece of squid he was chewing before regaining his composure. "Th-the Doors of Death...," he mused. "I have ventured far and wide, even deep into the chasms of the earth, Ms. Chase, and while I have heard of the Doors, I have yet to see such a thing."

Annabeth knit her eyebrows. "There must be something you know," she said adamantly. "You've ruled the depths for eons. You must have at least heard mutterings of the Doors."

Oceanus sighed, "I believe there was once a gate to Hades in the darkest part of the abyss, but it was destroyed millennia ago by a great beast."

"The Kraken?" Annabeth questioned.

"The very same," Oceanus answered with a nod of head, "but other than that I have only heard mutterings of a prophecy that mentions Rome and 'wisdom's daughter', along with the Doors."

Percy's eyes widened. _Ella__,_ he thought. He knew that Ella managed to memorize part of the Sybilline books, _wisdom's daughter walks alone,__ The__ Mark of Athena burns through Rome, _Percy subconsciously turned to Annabeth.

"However," continued Oceanus, "the Atlantians tell me that the Vatican may have some sort of interpretation for the clue. Although," Oceanus said softly while glancing meaningfully at Percy, "I believe their interpretations may not be accurate, and could easily lead you to certain death."

Percy scowled and turned away from Oceanus, but Jason leaned forward and said, "If this is the best clue we've got, then I'm afraid we must take it."

Silence ensued, and Percy glanced at Oceanus and could almost see what he was thinking, because he knew that even if Oceanus was a childish, game-room destroying ass, he was still wise as the sea is wide.

"Oh, I almost forgot," said Oceanus, breaking the silence. "My nephew, D, gave you a gift, didn't he Percy?"

"D?" Percy asked in confusion.

"Dionysus," Oceanus clarified.

"Oh it's-" Percy stood up in alarm.

"It's all right Percy, I have the bag," Oceanus comforted while conjuring the bag and threw it to Percy, "Open the bag, son of Poseidon."

It contained what appeared to be a shoebox with a note attached,

**Green: Percival Jamicus**

** Blue: Jeremy Grape**

** Gold: Hailey Leversky**

** Red: Rio Baldhead**

** Brown: Anyabella Chervon**

** Orange: Fred Zaine**

** Purple: Perla McDonalds**

** P.S: I hope the names are right. Love, and whatever you mortals say. **

**Mr. D.**

Percy opened the box and found seven smaller boxes, all color-coded according to the note. Percy passed the boxes around to their owners, before opening his own. Inside was a sleek, futuristic phone.

"What you hold in your hands, Percy, is the iPhone Δ, the last great invention by Daedalus," Oceanus announced grandly. "It's what we use to communicate when there is no water to use, which is ridiculous when 70 percent of the world is made of water. However it is very popular."

Percy turned it on and a Delta came to life on the screen.

"Aw sweet!" exclaimed Leo. "I haven't had a phone in like," Leo thought about it, "well...ever, actually. But, still, this is sweet!."

"As you can see," Oceanus explained, " It employs one's memory into the phone, so you can contact about anyone you know, unless of course, they are dead, or refuse to accept your call."

Oceanus showed his phone, dialed a number and waited. Soon the phone Percy was holding rang. "Answer it." said Oceanus.

Percy pushed the green button and a holographic image of Oceanus showed. "This is an Iris message, and the phone call works separately."

"Cool...," they murmured, checking out the iPhone.

"You may install any apps that you wish, and you can even make your own apps," Oceanus continued, "given the right amount of time and imagination."

Leo was holding his like it was a jewel, "WOW! This is so sweet!" Leo stopped, "but, uh… where do the charges come from?"

Oceanus chuckled. "It runs on Mist, Mr. Valdez," he answered with a smile, "so D thought it was nice for you to bring to Rome, since the Mist over there is even stronger than your average, everyday Mist."

"No," Leo continued with a shake of his head, "I meant the billing. How much are these going to cost us?"

"Nothing," Oceanus said happily. "Given the service you've provided Olympus, it's free for you seven. Now then," Oceanus said, waving at the automatons, "would you please bring in dessert."

The ' dessert' in question was about the size of a box television, made of ice cream cake. "I meant to crack this baby alone, but I always include the guests," Oceanus said with another genial smile.

Percy's iPhone rang and indicated incoming messages.

(**Mr. D)**

** I see you opened the present Percival, well... cheers.**

** From, your loving camp director and whatever, **

**Mr. D**

** (Apollo)**

** Oh cool! You got one too! Y'know I can use this phone to keep track of the ladies :P I'll catch you later Percy!**

** (Poseidon)**

** Hello Percy, I see you received an iPhone. Congratulations, my boy, now we can keep in touch more often.**

** (Ares)**

** Hey punk, you got some spine adding me on your phonebook, remember squirt, I still ha****ve to smash your face in sometime.**

The messages kept dinging, a god congratulating Percy and wishing him the best. Soon, the phones of the others started to ring, too.

"So," interrupted Oceanus forcing all of the heroes to look up from their new toys, "tell me what you plan on doing, now."

Jason put down his spoon and pocketed his phone. "I think we should go to the Vatican, and find that clue you mentioned, Lord."

"I will message Senior Cardinal McGarden that you will be coming."

"Hold on," Said Hazel, " The Vatican worships God, how do they know you?"

"Religion is never original, even Catholicism has its roots in Greece," he said dismissively. "McGarden will inform you of more, tomorrow, once you reach him."

"Now Heroes, you must have a good night sleep, for you must leave at first light tomorrow," he said standing up.

"No!" complained Leo. "What about this sweet cake?"

Percy looked and saw that Leo was silently eating the cake, and had already demolished about a third of it. Oceanus looked alarmed by the state of his dessert.

"Well...stay and eat...but, then you must adjourn to your rooms," he said and began walking toward the door. "But, I believe that this is where I must bid you adieu."

Oceanus clapped his hands and yelled, "Alexandra!"

Alexandra appeared next to Oceanus and bowed. "Yes, Father?" she asked.

"Lead them to their rooms, once they are finished here," Oceanus orders. Alexandra bowed, and Oceanus turned to the heroes "Good luck, my friends," he said, "the fate of the world rests on you all, Heroes of Olympus."

Alexandra guided them out, Percy turned to Oceanus and stared him down for awhile. Oceanus stood tall under his gaze. "Thank you for all of this, Oceanus," he said in a quiet voice. "You have been very kind to us, but I still cannot forgive you for what you did to my father."

Oceanus smiled sadly. "Of course, child," he said calmly, "I understand."

With a sound like a tidal wave hitting the room, Oceanus disappeared.

Percy followed Alexandra to their room, she bowed and wished them good luck before vanishing. Leo yawned. "Man," he said, rubbing his eyes. "I am tired. I'll see you all later, as Helmsmen of the Argo II."

Leo crashed on top of his bed and started snoring. Frank clapped Percy on the shoulder, " I'm going to bed, too, guys, see you tomorrow."

Jason quickly followed suit, but Percy didn't feel tired at all. He crept into his bed and looked at his iPhone, and kept staring at one name, _Sally Jackson._

_A few days, after__ the heroes freed Death._

_Several figures sit seated in the shadows. _

"_I am t__elling__ you all, I cannot lead these men__!"__ a figure roars in the center of the dark room. He is the only one standing_

_"__You must,__" one of seated men says.__"It is the__ decision__ of the Conclave__."_

_ "I have had my fill of power__!__" the man screamed.__"I have proven my weakness when cavorting with it! I cannot risk drowning in it, again!__ Let one of_them _do it!"_

_Anot__her figure cleared his throat,__"I agree with the conclave__'s d__ecision.__ Renati Etearum__, you are the only one ready for this and you_must_ lead__ us__, in this__."_

_ "Do you see, Renati?" another seated figure said. "You may think that your past conflicts with your leadership, but I do not think that is true. Your true heart is brave and courageous, and you are prepared for this better than any of us. You must lead us."_

_ The figure slumped his __shoulders. "__Very well,__" he said resignedly,__"if it is the conclave__'s __decision, I will bow__." He looke__d at the figure at the right, "__Noctumbre, you will assist the Hunters of Artemis with the forces we have, while Artifex will assist Camp Half Blood with defenses and asse__ssment of weaponry. The rest... you know your duties."_

_ The f__igures rose from their seats, "__Very well, Renati Etearum, complete your mission, Find __Perseus Jackson."_

**Jay A/N**

**And that marks the end of chapter 29. Sorry if it's short, but I want action full in the next chapter, as I will introduce a new character. Also, some of you will find it odd for them using a phone, but it's cool. Renati Etearum ( Pronounced EE-terr-rum) will be a figure masked in shadow, but used to be VERY famous... like all star famous.**

** I thank you all for the smexy review, which motivate me to write cool stuff.**

** EDIT: Sorry for the loooooong wait, we had some difficulties that were completely un-sexy, and was messing with our chakra, so we went to Iris and she fixed it for us (and gave us these horrible twinkies.).**

**Addressing Reviews!**

** Jaybird: when are you rightig chapter 29 and when will it end**

** Me: Idk.**

** jay hnfgdtr: you arestupid ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;**

** Me: You forgot the space between '****are' and 'stupid'.**

** ( I feel these two are the same people, and are making a parody of my name for some reason...)**

**N69's A/N:**

**Even though Jay already said this, I would also like to apologize for the long wait. Irecently found out that I have a rare form of illness known as: Son-of-a-bitch-why-the-hell-did-i-buy-this-crappyass-computer-itis. It was close there for ****a while****. My family wasn't sure if I would pull through or not, but I did and am now back to bring you sexy-time…or chapters to read, which ever you'd prefer.**** But thank all of you for the reviews, and Alex Redenbaugh, sorry for the delay with writing this, but thank you for your continued reviews and PMs, it's good to know you like our writing, and you don't need to worry, Jay told me about your ideas and none of the bad things you thought might happen will.**


	30. Chapter 30

(**Grammy awards)**

**Jay, N69, and Slash sit together.**

**Jay: So... Slash, you uh... do this often?**

**Slash: every once in a while I do random stuff to help people get rights.**

**N69: There's Rick, we're still in the dream, but I don't see any Norris's.**

**( Slash narrows his eyes.) No... there is a far more fearsome projection down here...**

**( Rick takes the stage)**

**Rick: again, I thank you all for giving me this award!**

**Slash: He's dreaming that he won the movie awards for TLT movie, but truth be told, it sucked. Follow me kids, (Picks up a guitar ax.) I got a plan that just might work.**

**Still we do not own PJO or HoO, but we will...oh yes, we will.**

**Piper**

Piper was sleeping in her bed when someone roughly grabbed her and shoved a gag in her mouth. Piper tried to fight, but she was no match for the person's iron grip. They grabbed her face and Piper felt cold metal pressed against her cheek. "Now, stay silent, or I'll make sure the son of Zeus never looks at you the same way again," a deep voice whispered into her ear.

**Annabeth**

Annabeth was dreaming about her last moments with Luke.

"_Did you love me?"_ he asked.

Annabeth knew in her heart that she had always loved Luke, just not the way he was talking about. _You were like a brother to me Luke... but I didn't love you._

"Annabeth wake up!" a familiar voice ordered.

Annabeth sat bolt upright and found herself face to face with a man wearing a mask, and black cloak. Annabeth instantly grabbed the knife she kept underneath her pillow and jumped away from the masked stranger.

"Whoa! Easy!" he said, raising his hands to show he had no weapon

Annabeth slashed at him anyway, but only succeeded in slicing off a piece of his cloak. The man quickly grabbed her wrist and forced her to drop the knife. She screamed.

"Annabeth?" Hazel's voice yelled from outside the room.

Hazel ran into the room with her sword in hand. The man cursed as Hazel leveled her sword at his chest. "Who are you and what do you want?" she roared.

"Get to the boys," the stranger ordered, completely ignoring her question. "You have to leave quickly."

The man vanished without a sound before Hazel or Annabeth could react.

"Who was he?" Hazel asked, shivering at the suddenness of the attack. "I swear I didn't hear anyone come in."

Annabeth was shocked. It's not easy waking up to find someone unfamiliar in your room. Hazel led her to a chair. "It's okay Annabeth," she said, stroking her hair comfortingly, "he's gone." Hazel called out to Piper, but got no answer. "Piper?" she called, again, as she walked into Piper's room. There was silence for a moment before Hazel screamed, "Annabeth, get the guys! Now!"

**Jason**

Jason felt uneasy. He knew that something was not right. It was like an itch in the back of his skull. Unable to take it anymore, Jason rose from his bed and went to the bathroom. Suddenly, Jason fell, his legs no longer being able to support his weight, and his vision blanked for a moment, before a terrifying vision came to him.

_Jason saw Gaea on a mountainside. She was enormous, and kept feeding soldiers to her army. __ "Almost... I am so close...," Jason heard her mutter, her eyelids shaking slightly._

_ Jason saw Chiron rallying the forces of__ Olympus, Hazel riding Arion, a blur on the field, Leo burning wave after wave of enemies, everyone was fighting for their lives, but it still wasn't enough._

_ They were overwhelmed; the surroundings were engulfed with fire. Jason stood helpless, watching as one by one, they fell to Gaea's forces. Jason screamed and tried to fight, but his legs felt like stone. The last thing Jason registered was Gaea reaching for the sky, an enormous hand engulfing the entirety of the heavens. Gaea opened her eyes and the world seemed to stop._

_ "I am awake!" She roared, as fissure a hundred miles long opened up around the battling armies._

Someone was shaking Jason. "Jason!" they yelled in obvious fear.

Jason felt like his head was filled with lead. "Uh... what?" he asked, then winced as it felt like his head was being rent in two.

Jason squinted, trying to see the figure before him. "Frank?" Jason asked once his mind had cleared slightly, "Is that you?"

"You alright, bro?" the figure asked, crouching down to look Jason in the face.

It wasn't Frank, it was Leo.

"I don't think so," Jason said, holding his head. "I had a vision or something." He was covered in sweat and he was shaking slightly.

Jason stood up with Leo assisting him. Leo guided Jason to the bed and handed him a bottle of water, "You woke me up," Leo explained as Jason drank. "It was scary. You were screaming and saying some really messed up stuff, man." Leo stopped and cocked his head. "Did you hear that?" he asked.

"Hear what?" Jason answered.

"It sounded like someone was yelling," Leo said distantly, still listening for more.

Jason strained to listen. "I don't hear anything," he said after a few moments.

"There it is again," Leo muttered to himself. "It sounds like they're sayi—"

Percy and Frank ran into the room, cutting Leo off. Jason immediately Percy's expression, and knew something was up before he even looked Riptide. "Are you alright? I heard something heavy fall, and voices screaming."

Leo started to explain how he had found Jason writhing on the floor, when Jason's watch started going off.

_Beep! Beep! _Jason held up his watch, "Jason here," he said, ready to reassure the girls that everything was fine.

"Jason!" Annabeth yelled her voice filled with terror. "Piper's missing!"

Jason jumped to his feet. "Missing?" he yelled, his heart dropping. "What are you talking about?"

Jason started hyperventilating, and felt like he would keel over. "Here," Percy said handing him a piece of ambrosia. "It's a hell of a lot better than water."

Jason took the cube, and tasted grapes as strength started flowing back into him.

"We have to get Piper!" he said with conviction.

Jason checked his watch, and switched to the tab that said 'Piper'. The dot indicated she was in a room, and she wasn't moving.

"We need to find her," he said again, "and get out of here, now. Damn Zale to Hades!"

Percy knit his eyebrows. "What makes you think he took Piper?" he questioned.

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Besides the fact that he's the biggest dick in Atlantis?" Jason said. "Add the fact that he's the only guy that wants to kill us, here, who else could it be?"

Percy thought it over. "Good point," he agreed, "Let's go whip his fish-boy ass."

It took them a minute to grab all their stuff, including the new clothes Oceanus had given them, and then they burst through the door and found themselves face to face with guards. They didn't even have time to draw their swords. Frank changed into a bull and pinned two of them to a wall. Percy charged three of them at once and knocked them out, in a second. Jason faced the remaining guard and threw him against the wall. "Where is Zale?" he growled.

"What do you think you will accomplish?" the guard asked, smiling beside his situation. "Your pretty little friend will not live to see the morning."

Jason punched him directly in the diaphragm. The guard gasped and sputtered. "Leo!"

Leo stepped towards them, "Burn him alive," Jason ordered, his voice deadly soft.

Leo grabbed a guard by his shirt and raised a finger, heating it so it turned red and moved it towards the guard's eye.

"OKAY!" he cried, his eyes locked on the finger. "I'LL TELL YOU, JUST KEEP THAT KID AWAY FROM ME! WE WERE ORDERED TO KILL YOU IN YOUR SLEEP! THEY TOOK THE DAUGHTER OF APHRODITE FOR LEVERAGE! NOW, LET ME GO!"

"Leo stop," ordered Jason. Leo did, dropping the guard and kicking him in the gut for good measure.

The guard handed Jason a map after he recovered, and scrambled away. Frank turned back to normal. "Let's go," Frank said, already heading in Piper's direction.

Jason ordered Leo to make preparations for the flight immediately, Jason would take care of Zale.

"You sure you don't want back up?" Leo asked, apparently not convinced Jason could take Zale.

Percy looked worried, and Jason probably should have felt worried, too, but at the moment, he was far too pissed to feel anything akin to fear. "I'm fine, I don't need any help," he said, and forced a smile to try to reassure his friends.

Jason imagined fire burning through his eyes and ran down the corridor. The sound of the watch increased. Jason kicked down the door in front of him and ran in. "PIPER! I'M HERE! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Jason heard Zale laughing. "So the knight in shining armor arrives," he growled from the darkness.

Zale seemed to materialize out of the shadows as he walked casually toward Jason. "I told you, if you ever even touched Piper again, I would kill you," Jason growled, reaching for his sword.

Zale smiled, "I would like to see you do it."

Jason tore his _gladius_ from its sheath, arcs of electricity coming off of the weapon and zapping the ground around him as he did.

"Where is Piper?" Jason hissed, leveling his sword at Zale's chest.

Zale pretended he was shocked, "Oh! I must have lost her along the way," he chuckled. "You need to check your eyes, Son of the Sky; she is in your domain, now."

Jason looked up, and found Piper bound and hanging from the roof of the room. Jason used the air to propel himself to Piper, intending to cut her bonds, but Zale jumped and intercepted Jason. Jason spun around and kicked Zale on the head, and he fell to the floor motionless. Jason cut Pipers bonds, but found her not moving, Jason shouted and removed the mask, and found a mannequin instead.

Zale stood up. "Funny isn't it," he said with a manic smile.

Zale clapped his hands twice, and two guards dragged Piper form the shadows, their swords held tightly against her throat. "There are only two ways I will let all of you leave here alive, tonight," Zale taunted. "Either, you must kill me," Zale said, before running a finger down Piper's cheek, "or the daughter of Aphrodite can…mm, let's say, _persuade_ me to let her go?"

Zale grabbed Piper's face and pulled her forward. "Go on, girl," he hissed, his eyes gleaming with insanity, "persuade me."

Zale removed Piper's gag, and Piper immediately spit in Zale's face. Zale closed his eyes and wiped the saliva off of his face. He then slapped her face so hard it sounded like thunder. Piper fell to the floor and did not move.

"You will have to try harder than that, girl," Zale growled, drawing his own sword, as he glared at Piper's unmoving body.

Jason threw himself on Zale, intent on murdering him, but Zale blocked his sword and disarmed him in a single move. _Impossible_, Jason thought as he fell back.No swordsman had ever beaten Jason so easily! "Do you see why the Atlantians were feared?" Zale gloated, holding his sword casually, as if he had nothing to fear from Jason. "We not only had technology, but we had technique. I have been trained to kill the gods themselves, you are no match for me, boy!"

Zale threw his sword away and assumed a fighting stance. "But allow me to show you how great my people are!" he exclaimed. "I need no blade to kill you, only my fists. If I remember correctly, your people used to love watching such events. Two men beating each other to death."

Jason had no choice but to agree, his sword might as well have been on the other side of the world, with all the good it could do him. Zale became a blur, Jason ducked and felt Zale's fist pass where his head had been a moment before. Jason tried to sweep Zale's feet out from under him, but Zale easily jumped and kicked Jason in the face. Jason felt as if a pro baseball player had just hit a homer with his face. Jason was stunned as Zale kicked his stomach, and punched his throat, blocking his windpipe and stopping his breathing. Jason gasped and stepped back.

"Very amusing son of Zeus," Zale taunted, his breathing completely regular. "Weren't you boasting that you were going to kill me a few minutes ago?"

Jason counted off round one in his mind, regained his balance and resumed his stance. Jason attacked this time, hitting Zale using a combination of boxing and a fighting style they only taught at the Legion. Jason was astonished as Zale blocked them all, while delivering blows of his own. Jason stumbled backwards. "Fool!" Zale roared, as he grew angry. "HOW DARE YOU USE THE FIGHTING STYLE OF MY PEOPLE!"

"It's Roman," Jason countered, glaring at Zale.

"IDIOT!" Zale cried, catching Jason's jaw with a right hook as he continued screaming. "YOU ROMAN BASTARDS COPIED MY PEOPLE'S TECHNIQUES! YOU ARE NOTHING BUT FRAUDS! THE REAL POWER USED TO BE OURS!"

Zale screamed bloody murder and jumped Jason. Jason blocked a fist from Zale, but it broke through Jason's defenses by sheer force, it connected with Jason's mouth and he tasted blood. Zale kicked one leg out from under Jason, and roundhouse kicked him across the face. The slow motion things you see in movies are one hundred percent real, at least, for the person that's getting his booty kicked.

Jason fell to the ground defeated.

"Is this all a son of Zeus can offer?" Zale roared, glaring into Jason's face. "Why, I barely broke a sweat!"

Zale kicked Jason's stomach, and Jason felt his body burn in agony as the adrenaline began to wear off.

"I'd torture you for what would feel like eons," Zale growled in Jason's ear, "and make your death feel endless, but I have so many better things to do today, so I'll end this quickly."

Zale picked up his sword and walked over to Jason and yanked him onto his knees with a handful of hair. Jason tried to fight back, but his body felt like mush. _Damn it!_ Jason thought, giving one more feeble attempt at escape, before his body completely gave up and he went limp. Jason knew that this was the end as an angry tear leaked out of the corner of his eye. _It can't end like this!_ Jason screamed in his head. _It can't!_

"Good bye, son of Zeus," Zale hissed. "I'll be sure to put you in the same pit as your father."

Jason closed his eyes, and waited for the death. Zale raised his sword, and suddenly, Jason heard the guards topple. Zale threw Jason aside as he heard the bodies fall limply to the floor and turned around in shock. A figure was cutting Piper's bonds.

"Who do you think you are?" Zale screamed.

The figure stopped and faced Zale. "Well, apparently I'm your opponent," he said, casually walking toward Zale.

Jason saw the figure draw a couple of daggers out of nowhere as Zale rushed at him and saw him throw them, with precision, at Zale, who blocked them all, save for one that dug into his shoulder. The figure disappeared and materialized in front of Jason.

"Can you walk, son of Jupiter?" the figure asked with concern.

The man wore a porcelain mask, and offered Jason a hand. Jason rose to his feet and said, "Yeah, I'm fine, I think."

The figure hesitated, but then nodded. "Very well," he said. "The you had better take the daughter of Aphrodite, and get to the Argo II."

Zale grit his teeth, grabbed the dagger, and pulled it out. "I don't know who you are," Zale panted raising his sword again, "but I will make sure you die along with them."

Jason moved towards the side, picking up his sword and sheathing it as he did, and Zale tried to charge him, only to have the man block him with another sword, that he seemingly pulled from thin air. _A son of Ares? _Jason thought, though he wasn't completely convinced.Zale roared and struck back with all his might. Jason limped to Piper as quickly as he could and lifted her gently.

"I got you Pipes," he whispered comfortingly. "Let's get out of here."

Jason managed to give her an awkward piggyback ride, and limped out the door. Jason ran into Percy and Frank, fighting about 12 guards at the same time. Jason put down Piper and joined in the battle royale, though he really wasn't in any shape to fight anyone, right then.

"So pleased you could come, Thunder Head," Percy joked, grinning as he hit one of the guards on the head.

"Yeah well...," said Jason, "The tea party with Zale was horrible, like, no sardines at all."

Frank judo threw a guard into a wall next to Jason. "Plenty of fish here," he joked before he changed into a skunk and sprayed a half dozen guards right in the eyes.

The amount of guards wasn't really increasing, they just caught sound of the battle and ran in to fight, coming in ones and twos. When Jason was absolutely sure that they were about to be overrun, Annabeth and Hazel joined in the battle, Hazel immediately ran over to Piper and lifted her.

"I'm going to take her to the Argo II!" she cried, kicking one of the guards in the groin and hopping over him. "But I need some cover!"

Frank had changed into a bear and was playing whack-a-mole with about four guards, but when he heard Hazel's voice he roared and pushed them back, and ran to her. Frank changed back into a human. "Frank Zhang, at your service ma'am," he said, saluting her.

Frank took Piper, and lifted her onto his shoulder. "Let's go," he said, changing into a rhino and charging through the hallway

Jason nodded grimly, and turned his attention to the incoming guards.

**Leo**

Leo had half a mind to go back and see if Jason was safe. But Percy insisted that he would be okay. They had come across a squadron of guards, so Percy and Frank let Leo go first, to give him some time to prepare the Argo II. Leo literally burned himself a hole into the hanger, and found his baby...with a couple of guards hanging around it.

"Eugh," A guard groaned, kicking the one loose board on the side of the hull. "Who would make this useless hunk of wood and steel?"

"I know," said another, wrinkling his nose as he stared at Festus' head. "I can think of a thousand more ways to recycle this piece of filth."

"HEY!" Leo yelled, his entire body burning with anger.

The words made Leo's entire body catch fire, and he barreled into the two guards, burning them in the process.

Leo took out his traditional three pound hammer from his tool belt, which Oceanus was kind enough to include among his escape equipment. Leo brained the first guard, who fell like a nine pin. The other guard drew his sword and briefly engaged Leo in a hammer on sword fight. Leo put his free hand on fire and blinded the guard, causing him to drop his sword and block his eyes. The guard never even saw it coming. _Bam!_

Leo opened the door of the Argo II, which led to the main deck, using a clever fingerprint recognizer. Making a beeline towards the control room, Leo threw himself onto the control chair, which he designed with Annabeth, using blueprints from Bunker 88, and Daedalus's laptop. "Attention people of Atlantis," Leo muttered as he worked frantically at the controls, "There may be some slight difficulties today with the resort, such as a hole in the roof. I trust that you will stay calm and enjoy the fireworks."

For the first time, Leo utilized the special event systems cache. _Welcome, Supreme Engineer/ Helmsmen/ Admiral/ Overall Cool Guy Leo. What are your orders?_

Leo pressed submarine mode. A bubble started to engulf the Argo II. It was a force field of sorts, which could keep out water, wind, sleet, snow, and to a certain degree, people.

Leo heard the hatch open, and stood up in alarm. Tightly holding onto his hammer, he stepped out of the control room, and found himself looking at Hazel and Frank, holding Piper. "Oh, thank the gods," breathed Leo lowering his hammer.

Frank went to Piper's room and put her down on the bed.

"Where are the others?" Leo asked, looking through the hatch like he expected his friends to jump out and yell surprise.

Frank shook his head. "They're still out there, fighting," he answered, looking out of the hatch with worry.

Leo widened his eyes and ran out of the room onto the deck. They were fighting their way towards the Argo II. Leo noticed Zale pushing his men out of the way, looking like he was out for blood. Leo was on the verge of panic, and yelped when he felt the air next to him compact in on itself. A figure wearing a mask materialized.

"What the fuc-," he screamed when the masked man interrupted him.

"Show me the way to a ballista, or something," The man said impatiently. "There must be _something_ lethal on this ship."

Leo was terrified as he pointed to one of the ballista. The man swung himself onto the ballista and manned it with precision. He mounted one of the bolts with a Greek fire tip.

"Dude!" Leo yelled as he realized what the guy was doing. "I would not recommend using that in-," the man pulled the trigger, "-doors."

_Swooosh! _An outpost building went up in flames, completely incinerated, a pile of ashes left over. Even the man looked stunned. "I don't remember this stuff working so well before," he muttered, then looked at Leo. "Get this ship out of here, immediately."

Leo wondered whether he should run to Hazel and start saying that there was this crazy dude that wanted to hitchhike out of here, but he decided not to argue with the guy manning the massive crossbow. Leo dashed into the control room and pressed a button that signaled the Argo II to start taxiing.

**Percy**

Percy felt the way he had felt when he fought in the Second Titan War. No matter how many people he cut down, more seemed to take their place. Percy saw a stranger with a mask that appeared to be helping them, dancing with swords seemingly pulled out of nowhere.

Zale appeared, with his hair disheveled like a crazy person, but his eyes made his hair look tame. The stranger jumped and crossed blades with Zale, and did quite a fine job keeping him occupied.

Percy grabbed a warrior by the arm, and butted him on the head with the hilt of his sword. He fell like a rock. "JASON!" Percy yelled. Jason turned and ran towards Percy. "LET'S GET OF HERE!"

Percy rallied Annabeth, and they ran for their lives, the Argo II started to slowly move upward. "KILL THEM ALL!" Zale cried, his men roaring in response.

The stranger disappeared, whether he was dead or lost, Percy didn't know. A blinding flash appeared from the Argo II and a building was reduced to ashes, the flames still roaring. _Greek fire, _Percy thought.The guards turned frantically, trying to put the spreading fire out. Zale glared at the Argo II, his face contorted in rage, and let out a scream.

Percy made it to the door of the Argo and jumped in. Percy saw Zale as he threw his sword down and stared at the Argo II, as it rose higher and higher into open sea. Percy closed the door as they left the force field of Atlantis, which kept the water from crushing them, and went out to the deck.

Leo ran from the control room and hugged Jason. "I thought you were dead man!" He cried, his head buried in Jason's shoulder. "Don't ever fight a battle without me."

Jason awkwardly patted Leo's shoulder and asked, "Where's Piper?"

Leo pointed to her room, and Jason went in without saying another word.

Annabeth leaned on Percy's shoulder, and Percy reached down and held her hand.

"Guys," interrupted Leo, "I know this is like a whole, ' I'm so glad you're alive, sweetheart' moment sort of thing, but, uh..."

Leo's voice trailed off as he pointed behind Percy.

"Percy Jackson, it's an honor," a deep voice said behind him.

Percy wheeled around and found himself looking at the person that helped them escape. Annabeth looked like she was choking on a hairball. "That's the guy wh-," she screamed, drawing her knife.

"I am sorry for my rudeness," the guy said, holding his arms out to show he had no weapons, "but you had to leave as fast as possible. Now may I speak with our young Mr. Jackson alone?"

Annabeth glanced at Percy, and saw the look on his face, so she moved to the door to the rooms dragging Leo along behind her as he protested.

Percy faced the stranger. "I do not know who you are," Percy said, standing tall before the man, "but thank you. Without you, we would have died out there."

"I was merely doing my duty, Percy," the man answered, standing as straight as Percy.

The two stared at each other for what felt like hours, until the man turned around and looked at the horizon. "You have seen what Prince Zale can do today, Percy," the man started, "but be warned, that is nothing compared to what you will face in Rome. There you will face creatures unlike anything you have ever faced, let alone dreamed of, before."

"We were surprised!" said Percy indignantly, "If Piper wasn't kidnapped like that, we would have kicked his ass!"

The man wheeled around sharply. "Is that really what you think?" he asked his voice cold and sharp as a knife.

Percy knew that he shouldn't be getting angry with this guy, he had saved their lives and all, but something in his voice made him feel like he was a student, and the man was the teacher. "I know that you think I am a kid," Percy said, trying to stay calm, "but I defeated Kronos myself."

"You did not defeat Kronos," the man said just as sharply. "You defeated a boy, whose body was inhabited by Kronos. He had trouble getting used to his human body. If you had met Kronos in his prime, the very sight of his gaze would have had you fallen to your knees."

Anger swelled up inside Percy, but he knew that in a way, the guy was right.

"I apologize," The man sighed. "What you did was no mean feat, but you _cannot_ let it limit you. For what you will soon face will make Kronos look like a calm stream before the angry sea. I should not be getting sharp with you, it was my mistake. But, please, allow me to introduce myself."

He took off his mask, and Percy saw a guy in his mid- twenties, he was very handsome, with thick black hair that was swept back and reached pass his shoulders, and beautiful blue eyes, like a sapphire, filled with passion. But it looked...slightly...odd. Percy couldn't put his finger on it.

"I am Renati Etearum," the man said, bowing slightly to Percy, "a member of the Concilium."

Percy had never heard of the Concilium, before. "What is the Concilium?" he asked.

Renati held up his left hand, and Percy saw a unique looking ring on his thumb.

"It is a-," he started to say as he was interrupted.

"WHOA!" a new voice cried.

The sudden outburst surprised Percy, as the voice seemed to come from right next to Renati. "Dude, are you a ventriloquist or something?" Percy questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.

Renati rolled his eyes as another person appeared beside him, still talking. "You can't just disappear from me man! I was keeping all the guards from killing you, and you just leave without me?"

The newcomer apparently just noticed Percy, who was standing shocked. "Oh, Hi," he said and took off his mask, and looked like he was in his early-to-mid twenties, with brown hair tied in a ponytail, with a smile that never seemed to leave his face, and stormy gray eyes.

"I'm Shapiro," he said happily, "Son of Ceres."

Shapiro looked at Renati and held up his hand, Percy could see the exact same ring as Renati's on his finger.

Shapiro studied Percy's face. "You're not Jason, right?"

"Uhm..."

"Yeah cuz' you don't look anything like-"

Renati smacked Shapiro on the head. "Let's focus on the matter at hand here," He forced out, clenching his jaw.

Shapiro glared at Renati. "Fine," he hissed.

They both focused their eyes on Percy.

"We are members of the Concilium," they said in unison, "an organization dedicated to fight against Gaea."

**Jay's A/N**

**THANK GOD! I FINALLY GOT THEM OUT OF ATLANTIS! WHOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO! nothing much to explain here, Zale will be back, I promise, those kind of people never learn to give up... and... hmm... I am happy cuz' N69 and I have f****inally learned the best way to collaborate without the use of extensive file emailing... don't really know why I put that out.**

** As always, your reviews are much appreciated, and you have no idea how much it motivates me to write the chapters in wicked fast speed. I have decided to kill off the guns, ladies and gentlemen.**

** That may or may not piss thee off, but really, the idea was horrible (no offense N69.)**

** And for those of you that do not like OC's, there is this like that looks like a red rectangle on the upper right side of the screen, click that, and it will teleport you to bliss.**

**N69's A/N**

**Okay, I have like absolutely nothing to write here, so thanks for all of your reviews and you can all thank Jay for convincing me to get rid of the guns. They were ****a bad idea, and I've kinda regretted putting them in since, well, I put them in. Anyway, thanks again for the reviews, and have a nice day.**

_Written by JayKayy_

_Edited, Revised, and Advised by nevergivein69_


	31. Piper V

** Slash's Schematics III**

***The two writers move to the back of the theater, where a binding staircase leads into total abyss. They look around and see that Slash has disappeared.***

**N69: Slash?**

**Voice: Oh yeah, * Izzy Stradlin r****andomly appears in front of the two writers, looking like the stereotypical gypsy, but still hot enough.***

** Izzy: Slash had to take an emergency call out of youse dreams, Arnold Swarzenegger needed help on getting the rights to the Terminator Franchise, and**** he said it would be good for me to get some fresh air out of my house.**

***Izzy unstraps his guitar, which looks as lethal as Slash's ax guitar did.***

**Izzy to the stunned writers: After you ladies.**

** WTF IS GOING ON! We need a break from the whole thing,**** Slash got cold feet and now Izzy's here! Whats with the Guns n' Roses members!**

** We don't own PJO or HoO.**

Piper

Piper felt...light. Even though her body ached and felt like it would sleep forever, she felt...light. She didn't remember much of what was happening at the time: someone roughly waking her up, Jason screaming...and the next thing she knew, she was lying in her bed with Jason next to her.

"Jason?" she asked, raising onto her elbows, until she fell back when she nearly blacked out.

"Careful there Pipes," Jason said softly, gently keeping her elbow down. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," she said, embarrassed by the caring tone of Jason's words. "Where are we?"

"We just got out of the sea," Jason explained. " mythological time differs from-"

"'-from human time, so probably about a minute passed since we went under?' Yeah I remember." Piper finished.

They both laughed. " Yeah," Jason said. "It took about two hours of mortal time while we were down there, so we didn't lose much time."

They caught each others eyes, brown on blue, and Piper felt her heart start doing jumping jacks. " Jason, I'm sorry that I got captured," she said quietly, looking away from him.

"It wasn't your fault Piper," Jason told her, turning her face so she had to look at him, "we were all unprepared, and Zale did a cheap trick trying to kill us in our sleep. Don't even for a moment think that this was your fault."

She tried answering, but her voice came out as a timid squeak.

Jason smiled and Piper felt a near uncontrollable urge to kiss him at that moment."You need rest," Jason said after a long moment. He began to stand up, and headed for the door. "Try to get some sleep Pipes," he said at the door, and then walked out, quietly closing it behind him.

Piper let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. As she laid there, she tried to stay mad at herself, like _really_ tried, but what with the resonating quiet vibrations around her, and with her body saying _Piper McLean, close those eyes or so help me Zeus I will have a seizure_, Piper just couldn't, and she felt her anger melt away as sleep overcame her.

_Piper realized early on that demigod dreams were never just dreams. They were shown because they had __a purpose. Sometimes to shed light on somethings, others to point out betrayal and mark treason, and others to show where you could get a really good taco from, so she wasn't that surprised when she found herself back at the Legion. Piper calmly looked aro__und her surroundings and saw that it _was_ the Legion, just dabbed with slight changes in the scenery, what _did_ shock her was the fact that she saw a toddler, no older than four, with blond hair and a scar on his lip that she had seen a thousand times before__, was walking around babbling wearing a sky blue onesie._

Oh my gods! _Piper screamed in her head. _He's adorable! _She felt herself blush, as she watched the baby Jason waddle around._

_"Jay-son!"__ a male voice yelled behind Piper._

_ Piper turned around and saw a kid about thirteen run up the side of the hill they were on and lift Jason onto his shoulders. Jason squealed with delight._

_ "What are you doing out here man?" the kid asked. Jason answered by grabbing a fistful of hair in each of his hands and yanking it like the reins of a kid winced, "Get in here, now," as he felt his follicles being torn out of his head._

_ With a wonderful earthy smell, several wooden pillars rose from the ground, criss-crossing each other until they were woven into a single wooden crib. "There," The boy said, as he set toddler-Jason in the creation, "just stay in the crib until I finish the meeting, alright?"_

_ Without waiting for an answer, the boy ran into the Senate._

_ The dream blurred forward, day mixing with night, until she saw the boy that made Jason a crib talking with a young girl._

_ The boy looked the same, but was wearing a purple toga and eagle badge, signifyng his new position as Praetor, while the girl had hair the color of mud, with wild, silver eyes, unaturally sharp canines, and red war paint across her cheeks._

_ "-saying that Melanie retired?" asked the girl._

_ "Yup," said the boy. "She wanted to go to college or something, so I was elected Praetor.__"_

_ The girl slowly nodded. " I think that was a wise decision," she said, her teeth flashing meancingly even though she was obviously friends with the boy, "you are perhaps the most skilled demigod I've seen in this generation."_

_ "Generation?" Asked the boy innocently. " Honestly Lupa, I'm pretty much the best in the century or something."_

_ " Jason might be able to top you in a few years," she taunted, smiling wolfishly at the boy._

_ "Yeah right," he replied with a roll of his eyes._

_ The boy sat down, right on the ground. "You're ruining your toga!" Lupa exclaimed, pushing him until he stood._

_ The boy sighed with annoyance, shrugged and, and waved his hand. A tree no larger than a bonsai grew in front of him, a couple of apricots dangling from its tiny branches. Lupa's eyes widened. "Kevin...even size manipulation?" Her voice was saturated with surprise, and maybe a bit of awe._

_ Kevin grinned as he popped an apricot in his mouth. "You've been gone for sometime Lupa," he said cheerfully, sitting on the tiny tree, which barely bent from his weight. "I grow stronger everyday."_

_ Slowly, with her eyes never leaving Kevin's face, Lupa took one apricot and put it in her mouth. "It's delicious," she moaned, her eyes closing as she savored the taste._

_ "'Course it is," Kevin bragged. "It was a real pain, getting the taste right. The first one I ate...," Kevin glanced darkly at Lupa. " I'll just leave it at that."_

_ "I need you to look after Jason," Lupa said, opening her eyes slowly and staring at Kevin seriously. "Teach him to manipulate his powers as well as you can."_

_ Kevin looked uncomfortable. "My training was highly onorthodox Lupa," he said, nudging a small stone with his foot. "I'm not sure the kid can take it, I mean, he can barely talk."_

_ Lupa rolled her eyes."I meant when he becomes older," she growled, apparently not in a mood to deal with Kevin's naivety. "Begin his training once he can hunt with the pack."_

_ "Yes, ma'am," Kevin said, giving Lupa a salute._

_ Lupa rolled her eyes before changing into a wolf near__ly as large as a horse. Piper didn't know how Lupa talked to Kevin, but she understood every word that Lupa said. _Then I entrust you with him. Goodbye.

_The dream was distorting, like it had a bad signal, and the last thing she witnessed before a blinding __light engulfed her, was Kevin sword fighting with an older Jason._

_ Piper blinked rapidly. The sudden blast of neon pink, and trashy pop music startled her. __"Oh! Piper, _there_ you are!" a high pitched, woman's voice exclaimed._

_ Piper found herself looking at Aphrodite, wearing a horrible combination of tight form fitting denim jeans, yellow flip flops, a turqoise top, and carrying enough designer bags to wage war on Paris. Even so, she looked absolutely stunning, and although Piper thought that she had gotten used to her mother's beautiful appearance, she was wrong._

_ "Hi...Mom," Piper said, still staring at Aphrodite, unable to accept the sight before her._

_ Immediately, Aphrodite started playing dress-up with Piper, fretting over her hair and doing just about everything that Piper had put in the ' Never do' column of her life. Still, Piper felt glad that her mother had taken time to talk to her. " What's up?" she asked, ducking away from the feathered hat Aphrodite was attempting shove on her head._

_ "Oh, nothing much, dear," Aphrodite said nochalantly, searching through her back for some other attrocious article of clothing, "just wanted to see how you were doing, and seeing if your fashion is keeping up with the times."_

_ Aphrodite picked up a pair of shoes that looked like a torture device. " Not really my style," she said sadly, beforing holding them out to Piper. "You want it dear?"_

_ Piper hastily shook her head._

_ "Oh well," Aphrodite put them in her shopping cart. "better to buy it than regret it later. Say, is that Jason boy doing alright?"_

_ Piper was a bit taken aback, but explained their current situation and the fact that she had almost been the cause of their very failure._

_ "My, my, men and their 'responsibilities'," Aphrodite replied, absent-mindedly shoving a suit of golden armor into her cart. "I remember the time-"_

_ "Can't you help me train?" Piper interrupted, not really wanting to hear about her mom's past adventure with men. "I mean, you're a goddess."_

_ Aphrodite stared at Piper for a moment before she burst out laughing. "Oh honey, please," she said, holding herself as she recovered from her outburst. "I'm not fighting material."_

Of course. _Piper wished for a moment that she had a parent that was a god of war or a god of ' kicking some major demigod booty'._

_ "But," Aphrodite rummaged around in one of her bags, "I can give you a little something for the trip." She picked out a leather bracelet, shockingly to Piper's style, and gave it to her._

_ "Hard times are coming, Piper Mclean," Aphrodite said, while she tied the bracelet onto her wrist. " there will be _very _hard t__imes indeed. I know this sounds silly coming from me, but you are not like my other children, you are brave and courageous, not to mention absolutely gorgeous, and you have the things that the other children of the Seven do not have."_

_ "What is that?" Asked Piper._

_ Aphrodite smiled slightly. "You will have to find out for yourself Piper," she said enigmatically, "but know that I will be looking forward to you fufilling your part and bringing honor to my name."_

_ Aphrodite bent down and kissed Piper on her cheek, the first ever she had recieved from her mother. "Goodbye Piper," she said quietly, "I'll send you some nice clothing soon!"_

_ With a feeling like falling asleep, again, Piper was led into a highway of dreams, someone was whispering into her ear, trying to say something, but was too tired to carry on._

Piper slowly opened her eyes, and squinted slightly because of the light adjustment. She felt something brush her wrist and saw that the bracelet that Aphrodite gave her was actually there. Carefully, she sat up on her bed, and found a bottle of water. Raising the bottle to her lips, she caught her reflection in the mirror. She nearly choked on her motuhful of water. "Holy Zeus!" she screamed, jumping up from her bed, like it was lava.

Jason burst into the room, " Piper!" he roared, looking around the room like he was trying to find an intruder before his gaze locked on Piper. His entire face turned redder than Apollo's Sun chariot. "Oh...uhm...sorry," he stuttered, unable to take his eyes off her.

It was exactly like back at Camp Half-Blood, perfect makeup, perfect hair, and that ridiculous low v-neck toga. _Why does my mom insist on making me look like an Ancient Greek, prostitute,_ Piper thought, then she focused on Jason and she realized exactly why. _Oh...Well, that's a bit...presumptious._

"How are you feeling?" Jason asked, having regained his cool.

"Except for the clothes, and makeup, great," she grumbled, staring at herself again. "Could you leave for just a sec while I change? I kinda feel like I should be in Vegas—or Sparta—right now."

"Sure," Jason said as she walked toward her dressed. He caught hold of her when she stumbled as she was walking forward, and Piper felt the blood rise to her face.

_You can't be serious!_ Piper thought as she looked at her feet, and winced internally. _Bitch!_

Aphrodite _had_ sent Piper those horrible looking shoes, which explained why she was more of a clutz than normal.

Jason could barely control his laughter. "They uh...don't look like your style," he forced out, straining to keep back the laughter.

Piper made a face and started explaining how Aphrodite had hijacked her dreams when Leo casually entered her room. "What the hell is with all the laughing back here," he asked, not noticing Piper's appearance. "It sounds like the time I accidentlly gave my aunt's dog some espr-"

Leo's eyes fell to the shoes. _Here it comes. _For about ten seconds Leo's eyes flitted from the shoes, Jason's eyes, and Piper's eyes, before flitting back to the shoes. And as if someone turned on the light, Leo was rolling around Piper's cabin, laughing like a mad man.

Rolling her eyes, Piper took the shoes off with Jason's help and walked to her dresser barefoot.

"Okay," Piper growled, as Jason pulled the recovering Leo up, "now you guys get out of here so I can change, or these shoes are going somewhere other than out the window..."

"Where?" Leo asked. Piper gave him an 'are-you-serious' look before his eyes lit up. "Oh...I get it...Yeah, we should get out of here, Jase."

Piper chuckled and change into more appropriate clothes, before searching for Jason and Leo, who had apparently left her cabin.

"Hey," Annabeth called as she walked up to her, followed by Hazel. "How are you feeling, Piper?"

Piper repeated a couple more times that she felt fine. Annabeth leaned in close, to the point that Piper could feel her breath on her face.

"Listen," Annabeth whispered. "We had a couple of _guests _come in while you were sleeping. They say that they are fighting against Gaea, but they are all characters."

Annabeth explained that they helped them escape from the palace.  
>"Oh, so like what are-" Piper started, until a joking voice interrupted her.<p>

"We're here to help you train, girly."

Piper wheeled around and found herself staring at a young man, maybe twenty-two or twenty-three years old, walking towards her. He seemed... familiar.

"Shapiro's the name, girl, but a sexy little thing like you can call me Sharpy," he said with a wink.

Annabeth turned towards Piper with a '_what did I tell y__ou'_ look on her face.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean by training?" Piper asked, ignoring the guys flirting.

Jason and Leo walked out from Jason's cabin, laughing like they had been joking about the shoes a safe distance from Piper. Jason caught Shapiro's eyes and stopped, the smile slowly disappeared.

An uncomfortable silence grew between them. "Do you guys know each other?" Leo broke the silence, eyeing the two of them, and taking a step away from his best friend.

Jason looked like he had seen the ghost of Elvis. His wide eyes couldn't move from Shapiro's face. "H-how-" Jason stammered, "how are you-?"

Jason walked towards Shapiro but stopped when he seemed to realize everyone's eyes kept flickering between the pair. Jason cleared his throat and regained his composture. He held his hand out.

"I'm Jason Grace," he said in a confident voice, "Praetor of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata, err co-Praetor, maybe. We're still working on it..."

Looking amused, Shapiro took Jason's hand. "Pleasure to meet you..._Praetor_."

Shapiro rallied the seven to the main deck and sat down on one of the chairs.

"Gather 'round people," he called, motioning for the demigods to come forward. "I won't be doing this crap again, so you better listen up."

Piper glanced at Jason, and saw although he looked pale, his eyes seemed unuasually focused as he stared at the stranger before them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Shapiro began, his voice taking on a more serious tone, "firstly, I would like to congratulate you for all of your past doings, such as surviving the Second Titan War, and defeating four giants of the Gigantes. However-"

Shapiro eyed every single one of them before continuing. "-that is all water under the bridge, you are now pups again. Compared to Gaea and her army, the Titan war was only a warm-up, and Kronos was little more than an injured fawn."

Percy looked annoyed, and Piper could guess why. He had fought Kronos himself last year, and had lost a lot of his friends. He probably didn't think Kronos was a 'fawn.'

"I understand that many of you have lost your friends and loved ones," Shapiro continued, glancing from Jason, to Annabeth, before holding Percy's gaze, "but you need to know that surviving one war doesn't necessarily mean you will be surviving another."

"The Concilium has decided that you will need further training," he announced grimly.

The seven stared at him for a moment before, Percy said, "First, who the hell are the Concilium. Second, I think we're all capable of taking care of ourselves, dude." The others nodded their agreement, all of them except Jason, who just continued to stare at Shapiro.

"Believe me when I say this Mr. Jackson, this training...it is unlike any you have ever experienced before," Shapiro shot back."Now, before we continue Mr. Jackson, how do you respond to this!"

In a flash Shapiro drew his sword and slashed at his neck. Percy drew Riptide, parried, and jumped backwards, surprise and anger on his face.

"What the heck was that for!" Percy yelled.

"Just seeing how you would deal with a surprise attack," said Shapiro casually, sheathing his blade. "As you can see, our young Mr. Jackson used his sword to block my attack, and I would bet that each and every one of you would have done the same. Did you ever think you could have done it with your godly powers?"

Silence.

"I know that everyone here is highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, but I'm afraid that it will simply not be enough from this point forward. You've all met Prince Zale and seen his skill, well, he will be nothing compared to the horrors that Gaea has recruited, monsters that after millenia of sleep or imprisonment, will be glad to seek bloody revenge on the gods."

"I look around me and see that the only people that are using even _half _of their godly powers are Hazel, Annabeth, and Leo Valdez.

Annabeth looked puzzled. "Children of Athena don't _have _any special powers," she stated matter-of-factly.

Shapiro shrugged. "You're wise, clever, and battle-savvy," he said, "all of these are traits of Athena, and I'd say you're using them quite well."

Annabeth blushed at the complement.

"There are two things that distinguish the scales of a demigod's powers. One, the parent of the demigod, and two, the amount of power the parent bestows on said demigod."

Piper was shocked to hear that the parent could control the amount of powers their children had, though it did explain why some kids got special powers and others didn't.

"Hang on," Leo held his hand up like in class. " Are you saying that the reason I have this fire power is because Old Man H decided to give it to me?"

Shapiro nodded. "Perhaps he was in a good mood when he decided to bestow it onto you, or maybe an extremely pissy one, but the point is, even though the parent gives you a set amount of power, it doesn't mean you can't train it."

Renati stepped forward and put his hand on Shapiro's shoulder.

"In short, Shapiro will be teaching to utilize your powers to their full potential, while I will be testing you in armed and unarmed combat. Leo Valdez," Renati looked at Leo. "how long do we have before we land in Rome?"

"Uhh...about a week, maybe a bit more."

"It is not a lot of time, but it will have to do. And perhaps, if we are lucky, we may have a bit more time to train once we reach the Vatican."

"Wait, hang on for a second. This...training...how much does it affect our powers?" Hazel asked.

" When fully mastered it's something along the lines of-" Shapiro held his hand out, palm facing the sky, "-before," a small tree twisted out from his hand as the group looked on with shocked eyes. "aaaafter."

The ship started to rumble. Leo gave a shout and shot up from the ground, the others did as well, and Piper could see why. Small bumps grew from the deck of the Argo II, turning green as they enlarged and thickened into trees. Soon, the Argo II looked like it had a forest on the main deck, a wonderful smell enveloping the entire ship.

"I-Impossible." Percy looked disturbed. " Even Katie Gardner, the head counselor of the Demeter Cabin can't use her powers like this."

"Well... I'm not exactly ' Katie Gardner' now am I Mr. Jackson?"

Piper looked at Jason turn away, and silently walked back towards his room.

"Training starts this evening ladies and gentlemen, I suggest you all prepare for the hardest training of your life." Renati and Shapiro said in unison.

"Whatever, man!" Leo exclaimed, his face flushed with anger. "Just get these freaking trees off of my freaking boat!"

**Jay's A****/N**

** I particularly enjoyed writing this chapter, maybe because of the dreams or something like that. There isn't much to say about this chapter, except it was enjoyable to write.**

** Also, there will be a new publishing method we have decided on doing, so the publishing dates may be irregular, but the chapters will hopefully come out faster. Peace.**

**N69's A/N**

** Thanks everyone for your reviews and that's all I'm gonna write because I'm in such a bad mood right now I may end up going on some seriously offensive rants otherwise. It's not because of the chapter, it's 'cause of some other crap I'm having to deal with right now. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. **


	32. Chapter 32

**Slash's Schematics**

** a side of a chicken in a Bucket, and a piece of messily chopped Bacon**

**( The three venture deep into ****the staircase, and find themselves face-to-face with a empty concert hall.)**

** Izzy: This place is the first layer of Rick's mind, and it will house a horror, I can take care of the first floor and make sure nothing comes down there with you, but the monsters on the second and final floor I can't help you.**

** ( Izzy connects a jack to his guitar and a spotlight covers him with light.)**

** unknown person: WE HAVE OUR NEW CHALLENGER!**

** ( Buckethead comes out of freakin' nowhere and takes a bite out of a chicken inside his kfc bucket.)**

** Izzy: Let's get this overwith.**

** ( Izzy brandishes his mighty epitone of rock and just impossibly flies towards Buckethead attacking him with a mixture of pure awesomeness and martial acrobatics that would have been impossible for the 46 year old man from Tennesse.)**

** Jay: I guess he really has an apetitte for destruction.**

** N69: shut up.**

** ( Buckethead is just no match for Izzy and gets brained from the guitar, breaking his mask to reveal... Kevin Bacon (WTF!))**

** Kevin Bacon: grrr... yeah thats right, I'm an imposter! The stupid disclaimer guy just randomly put me in for no friggin reason.**

** ( KB shakes his fist at the sky and shouts): Y'hear that you little son of a-!**

** Booming, echoing voice: uh... sorry.**

** Jay and N69 are mind fucked this point forward and we must end this scene to tend to our beloved writers.**

** We do not own PJO or HoO.**

**Hazel**

The two new people aboard the Argo II unsettled Hazel. Sure they _said _they were fighting against Gaea, but that didn't mean they were fighting for the gods.

Hazel talked to Frank about it, but he didn't seem to be so worried.

"Come on Hazel," he had told her,"they're just two people, even if they do turn out to be bad, we outnumber them three to one. How much damage could they really do?"

That didn't exactly reassure Hazel, but in the end she relented.

Hazel met Frank outside her room, about ten minutes before they had to meet the others out on the deck.

"Are you ready?" Frank asked.

To answer Frank, Hazel playfully punched Frank on the shoulder, and said "What do you think. Now, let's go."

╰ ╮_¤°.¸¸.·´¯`»®_ _®«´¯`·.¸¸.°¤_

Hazel and Frank walked onto the deck, and were met with a beautiful, sunny sky...and the sound of metal clashing against metal. Hazel saw Annabeth waving to her as she and Percy watched the fight..

Shapiro and Renati both had blindfolds on, which seemed overdramatic to Hazel, but they both were a blur on the ship, looking like any minute, one of them might chop the other's head off.

Shapiro cocked his head in Hazel's direction. "I think we may have an audience," he murmurred loud enough for the foursome to hear.

Renati didn't comment, he simply swept Shapiro's leg out from under him, and flicked his blade up to his neck.

"And I think you just got owned," Annabeth replied.

Frank walked towards Shapiro and helped him get up.

"Where are the others?" Renati asked, taking off his blindfold.

_Speak of the devils. _Piper and Leo walked from below talking in worried voices together. Hazel noticed Jason didn't appear to be with them.

"Where is the son of Zeus?" Renati asked, glaring at the door to the ship's bowels like Jason would just appear there.

"We tried to talk with him, but he just locked himself up in his room," Leo answered, his face screwed up in concern. "I've never seen Jase act like that before."

"Leave the boy alone," Shapiro commanded as he walked toward the group. "He will come around sooner or later, and he is not a son of Zues, he is a son of Jupiter."

They all tried to argue, but Shapiro would have none of it. He insisted that the group is more important than a single individual.

Hazel, Percy, and Frank got Shapiro as their first instructor; because he said that they were the most amusing to train, and Annabeth, Leo, and Piper got Renati. They would switch _teachers_ after a certain amount of time.

Shapiro led Hazel and the boys down into one of the spare rooms below deck, and it just happened that he chose the only dark and creep one in the entire ship.

╰ ╮_¤°.¸¸.·´¯`»®_ _®«´¯`·.¸¸._

As soon as they entered the cabin, a couple of vines appeared from the walls, some sort of glowing flower perched on them, so it appeared the room was lit by Christmas lights.

" A little bit better isn't it?" he said, grinning back at the three half-bloods.

Shapiro sat down on the floor, and beckoned them to join. "Please, sit," his voice more pleasant than usual.

They sat down in a semi circle facing him.

"How much do you know about fear?"

The question caught Hazel off guard.

"Excuse me?" Three voices exclaimed at once.

"I mean," Shapiro explained as he cracked a smile. "the emotion fear. How well do think you are aquainted with the emotion called fear?"

"I don't know," Percy said, a little sarcastically. "between fighting about a thousand bloodthirsty warriors in a barren New York with no backup, and actually meeting the god of fear, I think I've got a pretty good handle on it."

Hazel shouldered Percy. "We have all seen fear, sir," she answered before he could piss-off the guy who would be training them for the next few hours.

Shapiro raised his eyebrows as if he was shocked. "Oh, really?"

"I raised Alcyoneus myself, seventy years ago-," she explained calmly. Frank made a small squeaking noise and glanced at her. "I would say that I was pretty scared at that point."

Frank joined in, maybe thinking it was the sharing hour. "I-I've seen my life burning away in my hands, before," he said, looking down like he was embarrassed by this.

Shapiro glanced at each of them in turn, as if he was waiting for more, but eventually shook his head. "No...you all haven't seen much fear, I'm afraid...," he said, smiling at them like a caring parent. "Allow me to teach you a little something about fear." Shapiro aruptly changed the subject.

" The process of creating fear takes place in the brain and is entirely unconscious, meaning it is pure instinct. Now why exactly do we need fear again?" he asked like a school teacher.

"It helps us distinguish what is safe and what is dangerous." answered Hazel.

Shapiro clapped and pointed at Hazel. "Exactly!" he said excitedly. "If we didn't have fear we'd have absolutely no judgement on danger. We'd be running into cars, or be hanging out with drug dealers. The point is, it triggers the 'flight-or-fight' response inside our mind. It stresses our mind, and pushes it to the limit, meaning we can do things we normally can't while calm. That why you were able to fight the Kraken so well, Percy, because you were truly, illogically afraid. We can use this skill to train our powers."

_Excuse me? I thought you were a demigod, not some psycho therapist! _Hazel thought, surprised by his knowledge. "And exactly _how_ do you propose this?" she asked, her eyebrow rising skeptically. "I don't know if you realized this, but there aren't that many really scary things on the Argo."

Hazel's eyes crossed paths with Shapiro, and suddenly she felt herself falling into the depths of his eyes.

_Alcyoneus, my greatest son, rises._

_ Hazel saw the enormous spire of rock moving upward from the ground, as she helplessly clutched her mother close to her. She felt as cold as ice._

_ Summoning the last of her will, she ordered the cave to collapse on itself, huge chunks of rock falling from the sky._

Hazel, I'm so sorry.

_Oil filled her lungs as her head star__ted to become light._

The memory literally retracted back into her brain, and Hazel found herself back to her old self. "H-how did you do that?" she stuttered as her body shook violently.

Hazel looked around her, and saw that Frank and Percy looked shaken as well. "I was a good friend of Timor, the Roman god of fear, and he taught me a couple of tricks," he explained, before continuing on like nothing had happened. "Do you see how you were able to manipulate your powers to that degree in that situation?"

" Today," Shapiro continued, not waiting for her answer, "I will hypnotize the three of you into a dreamstate where I will be testing you against various demons and fears."

Shapiro told them to get comfortable, because this wasn't for the faint hearted. "Just remember two things: one, everything will take place inside the mind, so let's say you get hurt, then it will feel completely realistic, and two, I will be erasing this memory for the time being so everything will feel very, _very _real. Be careful, you have been warned."

With that happy note, Shapiro blossomed a flower onto his palm, and just about gassed the entire room with a wonderful smelling aroma.

The last thing Hazel remembered was how the floor of the room felt so very, very comfortable.

**Percy**

_Percy hovered between dimensions. He didn't know how much time had passed, a minute, an hour, a year?_

Ah...I see..._A faint voice whispered from all around him._

_ Percy slowly opened his eyes as he felt a light breeze caress his __face. He tried taking a step forward, but his senses burst to life as he registered nothing around him. _Holy Zeus!

_ Almost immediately, cement formed on the ground, and snaked above him creating enormous pillars in the air. _What in Hades name?

_Percy look__ed around his surroundings, it was a city of a sort, nothing like New York or Los Angeles, it constantly shifted and contorted._

_ Percy tried calling for someone, and was met with chilling silence. Inside Percy's head, a faint nudge told him to look up. Percy ignored it for as long as it took, but when you're a demigod of the Big Three, it doesn't hold for long._

_ Percy looked up and immediately felt his heart stop beating. About a hundred meters above him, cut up, and bruised, Annabeth was tied to a building._

_ "Hang on Annabeth!" Percy screamed. "Just hang on!"_

_ Percy tried to run towards Annabeth, but to no avail. The ground was like a treadmill, no matter how hard he ran, he didn't move an inch._

_ A familiar voice sent a shiver down his spine. "To save your friends you would sacrifice the world," it murmured almost to itself. "Interesting."_

_ Slowly, Percy turned around, and he felt his heart jump into his throat. Standing in front of Percy was a young man with blond hair wearing a simple beige cloth, with a jagged scar running down his once handsome face._

_It was Luke Castellan._

_ "Impossible," Percy whispered as his eyes widened, and he felt guilt over seeing his old-friend-enemy, again. "You..."_

_ Luke smiled, just the way he had when he introduced himself on the first day of camp. "That's not important Percy, Annabeth is."_

_ Percy wheeled around, having momentarily forgotten Annabeth. "What happened to her?!" he cried, tears starting to build in his eyes._

_ Luke shrugged. "However she got up there is not my business," he said disinterestedly, "you have other things to worry about."_

_ Percy glanced to where Luke was pointing, and saw a train, filled with terrified pedestrians, hung upside down from the sky like some sort of sick sausage. Their screams could be heard from where Percy was standing._

_ Rage in his eyes, Percy glared at Luke._

_ "One or the other, my friend," Luke said, his voice quiet, "I am sorry."_

_ Percy gave a shout of rage and rushed towards Luke, and at the last moment braced his knee against his __stomach, and used it like a battering ram to crash into him. They both went tumbling down as the ground disappeared beneath them, opening into a starlit sky. _Impossible! _Percy thought_.

_As soon as he thought like that, the ground hardened below them. Percy__ closed his eyes and waited for the impact, but instead felt the balls of his feet lightly touch the ground._

_ "Ah..." Luke said as he rose and brushed his clothes. He looked perfect. "You are beginning to learn."_

_ "What are you talking about?!" Percy roared, his heart beating in his ear like a massive drum._

_ Percy raced his eyes from Luke and back to Annabeth, and fell to his knees as his anger drained out of him. "How do I save her?" he asked, tears starting to stream down his cheeks as despair filled his chest._

_ "It works like this Percy," Luke explained, kneeling by Percy and gripping his shoulder, "the moment you decide to save one of them, the other will fall. The decision is entirely up to you, however keep this in mind, no matter _what_ you do, you _can't_ save the other."_

_ "You bastard," Percy groaned. Unable to find that burning rage._

_ Luke looked at him with sad eyes. "So who will it be?" he asked quietly. "The innocent mortals that never knew what was coming? Or Annabeth?"_

_ Percy grit his teeth as angry tears continued to carve silver rivers into his cheeks._

** Leo**

Leo was not in the best of moods today. First of all, his best friend just shut himself up in his room, and became a human wall. Second of all, he was on the ground, with a sword pointed at the back of his neck, while two very amused girls looked on giggling.

"Leo Valdez, why do you insist on using a hammer?" Renati calmly asked as he backed away from him.

_Guh..._ Renati had been pestering Leo for about the thousandth time. _Why do you insist on using a hammer?_

To tell you the truth, Leo did ask himself that question a lot. The answer always boiled down to: _because it was my first weapon._

"Because it was the first weapon I ever used, and it stuck ever since," he answered as he rose slowly to his feet.

"A hammer is made for crafting Leo, it is not a weapon of war," Renati explained, his voice kind but firm, "and you cannot afford to use anything less than a weapon of war."

With permission, Renati took the hammer from Leo and showed him by putting all of his strength into one swing, he left the opposite side of his body open for attack.

"Do you see the problem? For a surprise attack it may prove to be a bit dangerous at times," Renati glanced at Annabeth, "but in a situation against armed enemies, I fear it is not good enough."

Renati handed it back to Leo, handle first. "I've found it to be pretty good," Leo mumbled half-heartedly.

"You tend to fight as a support unit, Leo," Renati said, his voice still kind besides the hurt Leo felt at the slight, "you are not designed for front line combat. However-"

Renati gestured to Annabeth and Piper, who had gone silent listening. "-I wish for you all to be able to switch from frontal units, to support units, to backup and stealth as well. If this is war, you never know what tactical strategy might arise, and I wish for you all to be prepared."

Renati made a movement inside his cloak, and brought out... this baton looking like thing.

"How do you do that!?" Leo exclaimed.

Renati smiled for what Leo guessed was the first time in his life. "Hammerspace was inspired by the children of Hermes, Master Valdez. As long as I have shadow, I can summon anything that is lost or forgotten, and I can also use it as my personal suitcase."

Annabeth cleared her throat. " I have never heard of this type of ability belonging to a son of Hermes before Mr. Etearum."

"Why not?" Renati asked, seeming a little offended by Annabeth's disbelief. „Didn't you ever wonder why D. B. Cooper was never found? Hammerspace is a nice little pathway between planes, and if someone wanted to go away for a while, well, it makes for one hell of a getaway ride."

Annabeth looked shocked.

"Of course, I wasn't always able to accsess Hammerspace," Renati relented. "Shapiro trained me, just as he will you. At first I couldn't so much use my powers to summon a pencil. Now, if I have enough shadow, I can pull out cars, of course I'd rather prefer not too."

Renati handed the metal stick to Leo. "That is called a mace Leo, it works the same as that hammer of yours, it's just more effective. Designed to cause massive external damage, to be able to fully utilize it, it is wise to use it in conjuction with a shield."

Leo looked at the mace, and on closer inspection it looked a lot cooler that Leo had first thought. It was maybe three feet long over all and had a thick shaft covered in black leather. A lion head adorned the top, with sharpened grooves throughout the mane and a roaring mouth with wickedly sharp fangs.

"Th-thanks, bro," Leo stutered as he took the beautiful weapon from Renati's hands, "but, uh, what's with the lion?"

"Ever good, hero needs a nice title," Renati explained with a smile, "and I thought Leo the Lion fit you nicely."

Leo picked up one of the shields Renati had laid out for them. "Come on," he said, now excited to continue the battle, "one more round. The Lion and I need to get acquainted."

Renati smiled, but shook his head. "It is nearly time for you to begin power manipulation. Piper McLean, go below and see how the others are progressing."

**Percy**

_"I... I can't do it..."_

_ Percy had been kneeling for what seemed an eternity. He was never good at making tough decisions, and now he was faced with a completely impossible one._

_ "One soul, or many, Percy?" Luke asked, still kneeling at his side. "Annabeth knew the risks of serving Olympus! Do you really believe that she would want you sacrifice the whole world for her!? Well! DO YOU!"_

_ Luke jumped to his feet, and began pacing around Percy. He ran a hand across his hair, as he berated Percy, "That's your problem. You don't know when to cut your losses!"_

_ Percy stood up and got in Luke's face. "That's not _a _loss, Luke, that's _the _loss! You don't just cut and run when your friends __are in danger, you fight, and fight, and fight, until you save them or you die!"_

_ Luke looked pained, and the light in his eyes reminded Percy of the last time he saw them, over the dim light of a dying hearth._

_ "You're wrong," Luke whispered, looking down. "There are times when you have to do what's right, even if it means sacrificing those you hold dear. And you aren't going to be leaving until you come to terms with that."_

_ "Leaving? What are you talking about?" Percy asked, nearly in tears again._

_ Luke turned away and simple ignored Percy. "I never faced my fatal flaw, and in the end...it consumed me, just as it did countless others."_

_ "Well, I can't do it either!" Percy yelled in frustration. "OKAY!? I JUST CAN'T! WHY DO I ALWAYS HAVE TO MAKE THE HARD DECISIONS!?"_

_ Luke's eyes clashed with Percy's, the blue connected with the green. "You need to know, not fear, _know_ that one day you are going to have to let her go. You have to embrace and acknowledge that you must sacrifice her to save the world."_

_ Percy felt angry tears run down his cheeks. "That's not right. Why should I have to let her go? Why should I have to lose her?!" he roared, falling to his knees in despair._

_ "It is not about what's right or wrong Percy," Luke said comfortingly, though he kept his distance from Percy now, "it's about what is fair. Do you think that you should save Annabeth's life, or any singular being for that matter, over 7 billion others?"_

_ Luke took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Think about it Percy. The mortals are in__nocent, they _need _our help as much as we need them. Without mortals the gods would fade regardless of how many demigods exist. They feed us power._

_ We as demigods act as mediators for them, shifting the balance, forever changing history right underneath their noses. They don't deserve to die-"_

_ "NEITHER DOES ANNABETH!" Percy yelled back, pounding the ground._

_ "- Annabeth is a demigod, she is expendable in war! WE ALL ARE EXPENDABLE!"_

_ Luke's voice softened a bit. "Think of it like a game of chess. We are pawns, Percy, no matter how great a single demigod is, a pawn can be expendable._

_ "Th-then who is the king?" Percy asked, attempting to regain his composure. "Zeus?"_

_ "No Percy. The king is the future of Western Civilization," Luke answered in little more than a whisper._

_ "Without Western Civilization, even the gods are useless, nothing but legends and childhood bedtime stories. If you could sacrifice a pawn to take down a queen, wouldn't you do it?"_

_ Percy didn't know how to answer, Luke had nailed him._

_ "The rules of the game are different this time Percy. Gaea is ruthless. This time, I fear that her awakening threatens to mix the mortal world with our world, just as in the old days. We must act before she awakens. You know as well as-"_

_ Luke broke off as Percy burst into a wild sprint towards Annabeth, in vain as he only succeeded in tiring himself out._

_ "It doesn't work that way Percy, you can only choose-"_

_ Percy willed the ocean inside him to rise, it stirred like a sleeping dragon, coiled deep inside him._

_ "It's impossible to use your powers here, Percy," Luke yelled, but Percy ignored him._

_ Percy's insides were set aflame as he willed the ocean to explode out of him. _I would sacrifice myself before I sacrifice either one of them, _he thought __desperately._

_"Percy it's useless to struggl-"_

_ With an agonized scream, Percy felt the ocean, coiled up like a spring inside him, come to life as it expanded outward. The fire in his abdomen intensified by the second, but Percy willed himself not to faint._

_ Enormous pillars of water started to snake upwards toward Annabeth and the train. Carefully, with a deep breath, Percy channeled a constant stream of bubbles to keep the train from submerging. The train landed without so much as a sound._

_ While the other pillar simultaneously lowered Annabeth from the building, a couple meters in front of him._

_ "Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked looking puzzled as she looked around her._

_ Percy grabbed her and held her tightly. "I've got you, Annabeth," he murmured as his tears leaked onto her hair. "And I'm not going to let you go." _

_ The water began to fill the entire city, a huge whirlpool enveloped them, submerging them into crushing depths. The last thing Percy registered was the face of Luke, smiling broadly above him._ I'm proud of you Percy, _he murmured as_ _the city flooded like Atlantis._

**Shapiro**

_Unbelievable._ Shapiro had learned of Percy's fatal flaw only moments ago, and was using it against him. A test of sorts to see whether he could use it as a stimulus for activating his greater power. Needless to say, it was working. A little _too_ well, if he was being true to himself.

Shapiro put both of his hands on Frank and Hazel's foreheads respectively. _Hmm... not quite yet,_ he thought.

Shapiro stared at Percy in wonder. _Not even Jason completed his training this quickly._

Satisfied, Shapiro stood up and admired his handiwork, a little worry nagged at him as a thin film of water started to form around Percy, but he shook it off, before stepping out of the cabin. He was walking towards the deck when he was rougly shoved up against the wall.

"What the hell are you doing here?" a familiar voice growled into his ear.

The figure turned Shapiro around and held him menacingly. It was Jason.

"I have to say, Jason," Shapiro drawled, completely ignoring Jason's question. "I remember you used to always talk about Reyna, you even asked her out once, didn't you? So, why in Jupiter's name are you hanging around with that little _graecus?_"

Jason didn't say anything, which made Shapiro grin. "Perhaps Reyna spurned your advances?" he continued jokingly.

Jason held Shapiro up by the collar of his shirt, and lifted the sleeve of Shapiro's arm, it was clean.

"I'm not a member of the Legion anymore Jason, I serve the Concillium now, not that it matters to you."

"_Semel a membrum, semper a membrum," _Jason growled.

"Oh Jason... I have to say-" Shapiro teased Jason. "-fighting alongside those you once hated more than any other Legionnaire, it just doesn't seem like you..."

Jason gave a shout of rage and punched Shapiro across the face, he did nothing to retaliate. "Stop talking about them like that! You don't know who these people are, and it doesn't matter whether they're Greek or Roman! We're all in this together."

Shapiro raised his eyebrows. "Since when did you become a _graeca amatore, _huh?"

"There's no way for you to be here," Jason muttered, trying to kep the anger in his tone even as awe overtook it.

"Jason please, the world itself is awaking, I don't think this is the time to discuss our history."

For a small moment, neither said anything. "Say Jason, where is Ivlivs?"

"Gone," said Jason through clenched teeth. "It was broken a couple of months ago."

Shapiro smiled slightly. "You broke my parting gift? That makes me sad. Couldn't you have protected my last gift to you a little better."

Shapiro held his hands out in a diplomatic way, as an angry fire returned tp Jason's eyes. "Now, calm down, Jason, I'm sorry about what happened back, then. It was wrong for me to just leave you alone like that. But it was my destiny, I embraced it."

Then Jason did what Shapiro never expected him to do, and least of all at that moment. Jason let Shapiro down and crushed him with a bear hug. Shapiro's grin faded as he ruffled Jason's hair.

"Geez kid, did you already forget, a real roman never cries," Shapiro joked.

"I'm so sorry, about everything." Jason whispered, his voice was thick and stuffy.

"I told you not to apologize, what's done is done. I chose my own path, you had nothing to do with it. "

They stayed like this for a long time, no words were exchanged between them, nothing but the memories that they had once shared.

Neither of them knew that Piper McLean had been listening on them the entire time.

**Jay's A/N**

** This chapter is perhaps the greatest piece of literature I have ever produced( jking.). I will be doing multiple POVs in one chapter when there is something that cannot be described by just one person, and personally I think it is rather nice, what do you all think?.**

** I apologize for the long waiting time but I had come down with an unimaginable sickness, and I could not even lift my head for about three days.**

** I would like to thank nevergivein69 for once again shaping my crude piece of clay, and sculpting it into a masterpiece, you are truly a terrific writer than I can possibly be, round of applause for him.**

** And I would like to thank you, the readers, for standing by us throughout the series.**

** EDIT! I would sincerely like to thank my goo****d friend and author Zexyness ( formerly known as Constellapeia) for supplying me with this **╰ ╮_¤°.¸¸.·´¯`»®_ _®«´¯`·.¸¸.°¤ _**and allowing me to use it for my stories, Thanks Skye, Rock on.**

**N69's A/N**

** Well, that's the end of another chapter, so I have to write ****another one of these. I wish I had something witty to say, but I don't****,**** so...thanks for the reveiws. Thank you for staying with this story for so long. Please remind Jay he is a great writer so he stops giving me compliments I don't deserve. Oh, and if you ****hate gay people, don't forget to show it by eating lots of hot meat between two, hot buttery buns! **

_ Written by JayKayy_

_ Edited, Revised, and Advised by nevergivein69_


	33. Chapter 33

** Annabeth**

About ten minutes had passed since Piper went under to get Shapiro and his group.

"Are you sure she's okay?" Leo asked, glancing nervously at the door.

"I have confidence that Ms. McLean can find her way out of her own ship," Renati replied disinterestedly. He watched the door calmly as he waited for Piper to return. He was so still, Annabeth was sure could have impersonated one of Medusa's statues perfectly.

They stood in silence, with the only sound being Leo as he tinkered with a couple of spare cogs, a rusty nail, and a coil spring.

As Anabeth started feeling awkward with the length of the silence, she struck up a conversation with Renati. Though the two spoke mainly of war and tactics, Annabeth noticed wit, though he mostly remained solemn with his thoughts on war. At times he would divert from the line of the conversation to open up a philosophical point that left Annabeth more confused than when she spoke with her mother.

"Do you really think there will be a war?" Annabeth asked, after an especially confusing debate over the intrinsic nature of war in the daily life of people all over the world.

Renati sighed. "Yes," he said solemnly. "And we _will _lose if Zeus doesn't start working with the heroes."

Suddenly, Annabeth felt her stomach drop. They barely managed to survive the Titans, and if history was anything to go by, the Giants made them look like a bunch of flower-picking children.

Annabeth opened her mouth to ask Renati if they could win even with the gods help, when the hatch opened loudly, interrupting Annabeth as Piper walked out.

"Hey, beauty queen!" Leo called out, putting down his little tinkering project. "What took so long?"

"Nothing." Piper mumbled and sat down in one of the chairs as something rose from the floor of the deck right next to her. Piper gave a startled yelp and shot up from the chair.

Renati rolled his eyes. "You could have just used the door instead of giving everyone a heart attack with your theatrics," he said sternly to the rising shape.

"Sorry," it answered in a familiar voice.

Shapiro stepped from the wood of the tree that had grown in the center of the room like it was the most natural thing in the world. _One Hades of a elevator,_ Annabeth thought, as she stared at the tree.

"Annabeth," a new voice called from behind her.

Annabeth turned towards the direction of the voice, and was met with a rib breaking hug.

"Hey what-?" she tried to force out as the breath was crushed out of her.

Percy had his arms wrapped around her, and from his earth shattering embrace, it didn't seem like he would be letting go any time soon.

"Stop. I. Breathe. Can't." she forced out as Percy ever so slightly loosened his grip.

Annabeth saw Shapiro with his hand on Jason's shoulder, pointing at their direction, and grinning.

Leo cautiously walked towards Jason. He gave Shapiro a polite nod before turning towards Jason. "Are you okay, man?" he asked cautiously.

Jason gave him a big smile, before pulling him into a rough hug. "Yeah, sorry I was just a little...shocked," he said happily, still smiling widely. "I was a real ass, wasn't I?"

Renati walked towards Shapiro, seemingly greeting him by showing him his ring hand. Shapiro did the same.

"How did it go?" Renati asked, looking at Frank, Hazel, and Percy like he was expecting them to be worse off.

"It was... horrible." Frank answered for Shapiro, shuddering as Hazel nodded in agreement.

Shapiro grinned. "It's supposed to be like that," he explained, looking at the three with pride, "and I think one of the good side effects is that you learn how precious your loved ones are."

The three half-bloods glared at him harshly in response.

Annabeth had forced Percy to relinquish his hold on her, but they still held hands. "I know that it was just a dream, but I just want you to know that I will never let you go," he whispered to her gently, his hand shaking slightly and his eyes seeming oddly watery.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and jostled him playfully. "Don't make promises you can't keep Seaweed Brain," she whispered and kissed his cheek.

"I won't," he replied with conviction.

╰ ╮_¤°.¸¸.·´¯`»®_ _®«´¯`·.¸¸.°¤_

Shapiro led Piper, Leo, Annabeth, and Jason, who had joined them, down to the same room he had used for Percy, Hazel, and Frank.

"I gotta say, Leo," Jason said, as he looked around at the dark expanse of the room, set off only by the dull light of Shapiro's flowers. "I never knew this was your style. Do I need to buy you some latex for Christmas?"

"It was originally for storing bad guys," Leo replied, looking embarrassed, but also a little proud of the room. "I mean, I couldn't make it all unicorns and rainbows, now could I?"

They sat down in a semi-circle around Shapiro, with Jason sitting next to him. "Mr. Grace has already endured this training many years ago," Shapiro said, looking at Jason proudly, before he continued sadly, "but it seems whatever Juno did to his mind also destroyed my work."

"How does Jason know you again?" Piper asked glancing at Jason. "I don't know about Leo, but I've never heard of you before."

"I was his mentor an eternity ago, but I... left him when he needed me most. So, I guess I do not deserve to call myself his mentor."

Piper opened her mouth to ask another question, but Shapiro held his hand up. "Enough. We haven't the time to waste speaking of our pasts. So-," Shapiro eyed everyone, ignoring Piper's outraged expression, and smiled, "What do you know about fear?"

**Frank**

Renati didn't waste time on pleasantries. He just geared the three up, and started whooping some ass. Specifically, Frank's.

"Your goal is simple," Renati explained as he drew his sword. "Beat me, and you have finished your training."

"Sounds easy enough, but I have one question?" Frank asked as he cracked his neck.

Renati raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

"Have you ever been to the Virunga Mountains?" Frank asked as he started taking off his armor.

Renati gave him a confused look. "No," he answered simply.

Frank smiled widely. "Didn't think so!" He exclaimed as he charged Renati, and struck at him with the massive, hairy fist of a silverback gorilla.

Frank didn't even come close to hitting him. Before he could blink, Rentai faded from existence and Frank ran through where he had been. His momentum carried him forward and slammed into the railing of the ship. The railing shook dangerously, and Frank heard a few disturbing cracks.

"Watch your back," someone whispered to Frank's left. Frank swung wildly at the voice, felt Renati grab his arm, and painfully twisted it. Frank's entire body flipped over involuntarily, even though he weighed nearly 400 pounds.

"Aikido," Renati explained. "utilizes the opponents momentum and strength and literally turns it against him."

Frank felt himself grow slimmer and smaller, a chimp, to maneuver away from Renati. Frank turned back into a human.

Frank analyzed Renati's fighting style. He seemed to prefer quick, and fast strikes to overwhelm his opponents. _I need agility to fight him._

Frank felt himself shrinking into himself, as his hands grew longer and longer, growing feathers.

He launched himself towards Renati, intent on causing a distraction more than fighting him straight on. Frank dived and succeeded in scratching Renati's arm. It was going fine, attack, dodge, fly away, repeat, until Frank felt a hand gripping his neck.

"Ah, you are a clever one," Renati whispered as he forced Frank to look him in the eyes, "but remember, I'm not so stiff as you think."

With his wings flapping uselessly, Renati tossed Frank over the helm of the Argo II.

**Percy**

Percy didn't take Renati seriously until he saw him throw Frank over the side of the ship.

"What are you doing!?" Hazel screamed and ran over to the side of the ship, looking widely below.

Renati calmly walked towards the side and looked below. "Should we wait for him to come up, or should I go and fetch him?" he asked, his voice even and emotionless.

"What the hell man!?" Hazel yelled at him and shook violently, like she wanted to tear him apart. Percy could hear the bronze sides of the ship shaking, but shook it off as being the wind.

Percy felt sick as he stared at the indifferent form of Renati. _What is with these people?! _He thought as he continued to watch him. Percy was already shaken from his training with Shapiro, but with Renati throwing his friend away like he was nothing, something snapped in him.

Percy roughly grabbed Renati's shoulder and forced him to look at him. Percy clenched his fist until his knuckles were white as clouds, and then he struck him across the face. Renati staggered from the force of the blow, but quickly recovered.

An eagle, presumably Frank, landed gently on Hazel's shoulder. Percy ran towards Frank.

"Are you alright?" Percy asked gently as he touched his friends wing.

Frank flew to the deck and started to grow. His wings grew slightly longer and his feather retracted, until he was in his normal form.

"Y-yeah, I th-think so," he stuttered as he shook violently. Percy looked him over and was relieved to see he didn't appear to have any injuries.

Percy looked back at Renati, and he was just standing there, patiently waiting for them to finish up, though now he seemed to be a little guarded around him.

Percy walked up to him and apologized, albeit reluctantly. "I'm sorry I hit you," he mumbled, then glared into the man's eyes, "it was wrong for me to attack you off guard like that, but understand this: if you threaten _any _of my friends like that again, I will kill you. I'll leave you as nothing more than a red drop in the sea, and make sure everything you were and are is buried like the ruins of Atlantis."

Renati didn't say anything, or betray any fear, he just stood there for a couple of seconds before putting his hand on Percy's shoulder, something Percy took as an acceptance of his apology, and a sort of apology in its own right.

"You're next Perseus Jackson. Show us the power that brought Kronos to heel," Renati said, as he smiled at Percy.

╰ ╮_¤°.¸¸.·´¯`»®_ _®«´¯`·.¸¸.°¤_

Percy had equipped himself with a shield, not that it really helped him since everything Percy did was in some way exploited by Renati. The dude really unsettled Percy. It showed that as accomplished as Percy was, there were more experienced fighters out there.

And it wasn't just that either, Percy felt like somehow... Renati knew all the moves he would be making. Almost as if Renati knew his exact fighting style and was using it against him.

Renati was like a buzz saw, using two swords at once. Percy saw the cleverness in his choice of weapons, since Renati could attack him quickly and in multiple places simultaneously. The style kept Percy on his toes.

Renati slashed down at Percy's head with his sword, while stabbing at his stomach with the other.

Percy blocked the stab with his shield and simply sidestepped the falling sword. He was surprised by the aggression of Renati's attack. For the better part of the battle he had simply kept Percy at bay, only parrying and counterattacking as opposed to using the offensive approached. Percy didn't have time to dwell on the shift as he swung his sword and blocked both swords using Riptide, and tried to bash Renati using his shield, only to have it blocked by one of his legs. Several seconds passed as they both strained under the weight of each other. Percy wondered if Renati was wearing armor or something because that bash should still have hobbled him.

"Not bad," Renati said through clenched teeth. "but-"

Renati locked the hilt of his sword with Riptide, and twisted downwards.

The blade clattered on the wooden surface of the deck.

"What was that move just now?" Frank asked with a curious expression. "I've never seen anything like it."

Percy was panting, sweat poured down his face like rain. _Disarmed using the first move I ever learned_, he thought and then stared at Renati. _Those eyes…_

"Where did you say you learned to fight, again?" Percy asked, still staring into Renati's eyes.

Renati ducked his head and pulled his weapons into his sleeves. When his arms came back out, the weapons were gone and they didn't appear to be in his robes anywhere. "At Camp Half-Blood," Renati answered still not looking at Percy. "I am Greek, Percy. Of course I trained and lived at Camp."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Where were you when we defended Olympus?" he asked suspiciously. "And I have a feeling Chiron would have told us about any dead Camper as skilled as you, so don't tell me it was before your time."

"I am no longer a camper Percy," Renati answered, his voice full of pain. "I left."

Percy thought he was missing something. "What do you mean you left? Couldn't you have gotten a teacher's position with your level of training experience? The Camp could have used an instructor like you."

"Teaching is not one of my talents, I'm afraid," Renati replied simply, finally looking into Percy's eyes again. "Now let us try that one more time."

Afterwards, Renati pushed him so hard, Percy didn't have the time to ask anymore questions.

**Leo**

_Leo was running for his life in the __middle of a barren desert. Somehow, Leo woke up and __found himself tied to a post, with a tribe of Apache warriors poking him in the belly._

_ Leo burned the ropes into ashes, and the warriors all started shrieking as they danced around him. Leo later found o__ut, thanks to the shaman of the tribe, that they wanted to keep his head a__s a trophy for conquering the 'White Devil'. He kept telling them he wasn't white, but apparently racism was _way _older than Leo had ever thought. _

_ Leo was really hot. Sweat poured down the sides of his face and his throat felt like it had been scrapped clean by sandpaper. Occasionally, Leo would see a vending machine somewhere off in the distance, but then when he blinked, it disappeared._

_ "How in Hades' cornflower panties did I get here!?" he screamed, looking around like someone might actually answer him._

_ The Apache warriors shouted in tongues and threw a couple of spears, one impaling itself where Leo was a split second ago._

_ "Guys! Stop, I'm not even supposed to be here!" Leo yelled back at the warriors. They threw another spear at him. "And I'm still not freaking white!"_

_ Leo thought he heard someone snicker, but apparently the heat was playing with him. A nagging feeling in his head told him to go left._

Leeeeeffttt_. It whispered._ Go leeeefffttt.

No thanks_, Leo thought as he ran._ Last time I listened to a voice in my head, well...I don't even want to remember what happened.

_ Leo thought he saw someone laughing at him in the distance._

** Piper**

_Piper opened her eyes with a very tight sensation in her stomach, __making it hard to breathe. Piper looked at her body and almost screamed at what she w__as wearing. A corset was__ tied__ tightly__ around her torso, making he__r look like a super-Barbie__.__ She was also dressed in a beautiful, red dress that she wouldn't wear if she had a gun to her head._

_ Piper found herself at a ball of sorts. She was standing in a richly decorated room filled with people wearing strange masks, dancing and chatting with each other. Piper walked up to the nearest patron._

_ "Excuse me, where am I right now?" she asked, embarrassedly. _

_ The man looked at Piper for a moment, and then jus__t turned away from her. He__ walked away__, with a weird hunch to his shoulders. He scratched his head like he was trying to remember something__._

_Piper stared after. _What was that?_ She wondered, and looked at the other dancers. She walked up to another and asked where she was. They did the same thing as the last guy. She repeated the process another five times before she gave up. She sat in a chair, and held her head in her hands. After a few minutes, she realized something. _Maybe I need to charmspeak one of them? _She thought excitedly._

_"__Excuse me,"__ she said, tapping the woman's shoulder.__ Piper'__s voice was a world-class symphony__, capab__le of leaving any man or woman in tears,__ "__can you help me for a moment please?"_

_ The woman__ comp__letely igno__red her, not even reacting to her touch__. _What?! That can't be! _Piper thought, panic creeping into her thoughts._

_"__E__ssayez un peu plus difficile__, ma chérie,'' a soft voice said behind Piper. _

_ Piper turned around, surprised that someone had addressed her, and found herself looking at a well groomed young man, with brown hair and a piercing in his ear. "Sir?"_

_ The man took Piper's hand, and kissed it once._

_ "I know French, because you know French." he explained, smiling at Piper's expression. _

_ "What is going on?" Piper asked, looking at the crowd again. The young man smiled, touching her cheek softly._

_ "I'll give you a hint since you are so beautiful," he said, smiling wider as she blushed. "These people here are...a little more difficult to charm than the average human being. In fact, they will ignore you entirely. Your test is to find and charmspeak the master of this place to let you go."_

I am going crazy. _Piper__ thought as she looked around her. There were__ at__least a couple hundred people at this huge castle._

_ "Um..." she said, glancing back at the man, hoping for another hint._

_ "That's all I can say, you are beautiful, but you aren't _that_ much of a killshot." the man explained, winking jokingly._

_ Chuckling to himself, the man melted back into the crowd, leaving a speechless Piper with maybe more questions before he appeared. Piper tried talking to other people, but they continued to ignore her. Piper could tell they knew of her presence, but each time she grabbed one of their arms, they angrily moved away in a huff._

Oh boy, this is going to be troublesome, _Piper thought__, looking at all the people around her._


	34. Chapter 34

**Piper**

Piper's plan was simple. She would light the curtain on fire and see what the master of the palace would say about it.

_ "Come on... That's it...,"Piper mumbled to herself angrily as she disassembled a curtain sheet from a nearby window._

_"Yes!"_

_ The curtain had come loose and billowed to the ground. The other guests stared at the curtain like it was a spaceship, but when they traded gazes with Piper, they all ran in the other direction._

_ Without wasting further time, Piper headed to the nearest bar and grabbed the strongest, oldest whisky she could find. Then, she headed back to the curtain and poured the horrible smelling thing all over it, making sure she thoroughly drenched it._

_ "Here we go...," she murmured as she dragged the curtain over to the food table, where a couple of candles were burning merrily._

_ Piper yelled at the top of her lungs as she hurled the curtain over the table, pushing plates of food down to the floor._

_ Fooooooom!_

_ The sudden blast of flame pushed Piper back a couple of feet. Flames licked the ceiling as random partygoers all ran away like scared mice._

_ With a beating heart, Piper opened her eyes and looked around her. It seemed everyone left the building. It was quiet._

_ Piper sat down on the marble floor and crossed her arms. The master seemed to be mocking her._

_ "What in the world?" Piper got up._

_ A huge mirror had appeared out of nowhere. It was at least nine feet tall, and at least twice as wide as that. Piper saw her reflection and gasped. Her hair was done in stunning curls that no stylist in Paris ever could have done, and the makeup wasn't excessive at all; it accentuated her beauty._

_ The Piper in the mirror was flawless. Enough to make Aphrodite have a run for her beauty; Piper took one dizzying step forward._

Hang on...

_ Piper thought about rain, like _really_ hard. Soon rain poured over Piper, in various intensities, even though there seemed to be a ceiling._

Okay, stop.

_ The rain stopped, no sign that it ever came at all, even her clothes were dry._

_ Piper's breath caught up in her throat as her heart started it's own drum symphony. Piper saw her face blush in the mirror._

_ Piper closed and opened her eyes and took a deep breath. She now realized the truth of the man's words and felt the shock sink in._

_ She was in her domain. Her brain._

_ Piper McLean was the master of this palace._

**Omniscient**

Shapiro took his hand off of Piper's forehead and smiled. _What a smart little girl. _She was figuring it out, although there was still one last task for her to do.

Shapiro felt ashamed a little when he realized that he actually _liked_ this daughter of Aphrodite.

_No!_ Shapiro's Jeyna side protested. _Listen to yourself talking! After all the time you spent trying to pair Jason with Reyna, you like this graecus!?_

_ You know what? _Shapiro's Jiper side argued. _I do._

'' Noooooo!''

'' Kevin.''

Shapiro cast a irritated look and saw Renati, his face white and otherwise looking very disturbed.

'' I told you to call me Shapiro. I hate that name.''

Renati gave a exasperated groan.

'' There's no_ time_ for this. We have to leave _now._''

Shapiro looked blankly at Renati. '' Go where? And hang on a second, didn't we agree that we would train them while we protected them at the same time?''

_Shapiro, Renati, we need to talk. _A voice drifted into Shapiro's consious.

_Now._

_ I thought__ this was just a precaution to make sure we don't betray the Concillium. _Shapiro thought.

_Yes well..._ Said Artifex. _I'm pretty sure the master will forgive us, giving the fact that he hasn't contacted us for a while._

_ It's urgent. _Another voice prompted as other voices chimed together urgently.

Shapiro stood up without another thought and motioned to the door. '' Lead the way.''

**Percy**

Renati had beaten the crap out of them, one at a time, or all together, it didn't matter to him. And then, while he was repeatedly nocking arrows at Percy, he started looking around him in alarm, like he was hearing voices. Without any explanation, he said ' Class dismissed' and disappeared with a sound that sounded like one of those cartoon-y vortex swooshes.

'' Man,'' Frank said as they cleaned up the deck, which was riddled with broken spears and arrow tips. '' I've seen a lot of wierd people, but these two top it.''

Hazel sniffed in disdain. '' They're wierd for sure.''

'' Come on,'' Percy said as he picked up a battle ax. '' Let's clean this up and after a shower we can see what spooked a guy like him.''

**Leo**

_Flames erupted around Leo, keeping his body temperature hotter than the heat of the desert. Apparently you could do that, if you had pyrokinesis like Leo did._

_ Leo travelled about 8 miles into the heart of the desert, following the nagging insid__e his head after he had deemed it was his better conscious._

_ The heat was killing Leo, but at least it kept him from becoming a French fry._

If I survive this heat, I swear to my momma I will worship Hephaestus like the god he is everyday. _Leo pleaded to h__imself as he took an agonizing step forward._

Your almost there Leo! _The voice said. _Keep going!

Yes sir!_ Leo saluted as strength flood into him; new flames enveloped his body._

**Percy**

The hot water felt rejuvinating. Percy thought about Percy's conversation with Luke, Shapiro said that Luke was a projection inside Percy's mind that told him about the situation.

_You need to know, and accept that one day you must make that decis__ion._

His stomach felt kind of like when you're riding a rollercoster. The training left his body feeling... well...watery.

Suddenly, the water felt wierd. It was still water but... Percy felt it change. He stuck out his tongue and recoiled at the taste. _Salty? What is that doing here?_

Leo had told Percy that the water was filtered to be made into the purest fresh water possible..._what was salt water doing here_?.

"Oh yes I thought I'd come in here to explain that phenomenon."

With a sinking feeling, Percy turned his head and saw... Shapiro. His face was imprinted on the wooden wall.

'' Gah!''

Shapiro rolled his eyes. "Mr. Jackson I am a grown man, I think I know what a man's happy part looks like."

"Son of a Cyclops!"

"-Anyway, the reason for the change is that you did it, and I believe I already said this, but you have been 'unlocked'. You have no control over your newer power reserves. Until then, your powers will be leaking until I teach you how to control it. Taste again please?"

Reluctantly, Percy stuck his tongue out again. It was regular water. "Can I change temperature too?"

Shapiro raised his eyebrows. "When you master your element, there is little you can't do. I can be a fearsome attacker, or a unbeatable shield, I can use my powers to reconstruct damaged buildings, transport myself be it as long as there is soil, and create various hardness of my trees, along with various, if not endless possiblilities."

Percy was awestruck and a little jealous of the amount of control Shapiro had over his powers. _If I can control my powers like this..._Percy let his mind wander.

"Hey!" Shapiro made a clicking noise with his tongue, and brought Percy back to earth.

"Just messing with you, enjoy your shower. My, my, Annabeth is a happy lady, if you know what I'm talking about."

Laughing hysterically at Percy's face, which had grown redder than a cherry, Shapiro disappeared from the wall.

Cursing a steady stream of profanity at Shapiro, Percy finished up his shower.

_Back at the Legion._

_ "-_need _to send them __backup!" Reyna was arguing with Octavian. "If what our intel said was true, then they have no chance of surviving!"_

_ Octavian held a gutted bear next to him, almost like a child afraid of the dark, if it wasn't his eyes spelling anger._

_ "If I can get the b__ooks Reyna, then we don't need the Seven Demigods. I can single-handedly save the Legion."_

_ "For what purpose Octavian? So you can be Praetor? We already have a path that can save __us all, we have to help them succeed."_

_ Octavian sneered, but said nothing._

_ Reyna gave an exasperated groan. "This isn't who you are Octavian, you've grown bitter ever since he died-"_

_ "And why is that Reyna? Why should I not be bitter!?" Octavian raised his voice. "If you had just went up the hill along with them, maybe he would__n't have sacrificed himself to save Jason! Did you ever think like that?"_

_ Reyna lowered her eyes. "He wouldn't want you to be like this."_

_ Octavian laughed bitterly. "He's dead Reyna, I don't care what he thinks of me now."_

_ Reyna slapped Octavian, the __sound that echoed around them quickly disappeared into silence._

_ Reyna's eyes were red._

_ "He would be ashamed to see what you have become."_

_ Reyna turned around and walked out._

**JayKayy's A/N**

** I will start this A/N with an apology. It's been nearly a month hasn't it? We both were up to our necks with Life messing around with us, and I just couldn't write at all.**

** Another apology if this chapter looks forced. It is forced. I need to get my game back together.**

** Hopefully the next chapter will be better and will come out quicker. Thank you for your reviews and for standing by us this entire time, even when we contemplated to discontinue the series.**

**N69's A/N**

** Okay, guys sorry for the wait on this chapter, but I've had a difficult start to the sc****hool year. We started about a month ago and I've had barely anytime for rest during that time, so this has kind of had to take a backseat. In any case, Jay and I intend to continue this story, at least until Riordan's comes out, but it may change a bit. Wi****th our schedules, the chapters will probably come out pretty slowly, so you guys will just have to deal with it. In any case, thanks for your reviews and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. **


	35. Chapter 35

**And We Are Back After A 4**** Month Hiatus!**

_ The sound of footsteps echoed throughout the darkness. Nico di Angelo wearily raised his head and studied his surroundings. It was pitch black, and smelled musty, as if the air itself was infused with the magical properties that held him like chains._

_ With a warm white glow, stepped forth a man. He had silver hair that shone like the stars on a dark night with eyes that were pure white, and shimmered with energy. _A giant.

_ "Mr. Di Angelo."_

_ Nico croaked in acknowledgement._

_ It was all he could do with the thick, heavy earthen rods piercing his body all over. Gaea had done this to him. Nico was foolish for lurking too deep in the earth, and now he was paying the price. The rods were essentially like a charger for a phone, they fed him energy to keep him going, but they also stopped him from moving. The horrible agony they kept him in was just a bonus. Nico knew that the rods were all that were keeping him alive, and if he attempted to break out, he would eventually grow weak and die._

_ In the giant's eyes, he saw an enemy that could become far more dangerous than either Percy Jackson or Jason Grace. Nico di Angelo's strength was not in his gifts of power, but of words. With the influence he wielded, he could turn all of the Underworld against the Giants and Gaea, even the beasts that slumbered in its deepest depths._

_ The giant cleared his throat, and tried for a smile. "Faring well?" he asked, knowing full well the child wanted nothing more than to tear him apart._

_ Nico tried to grin, but it came out as more of a scowl._

_ "Kinda hard to be well when you're hooked up to Mother Nature, during her period," Nico complianed, wincing as he twitched and the rods moved in him._

_ The giant chuckled, putting up th__e front he knew he had to for the boy. "You remind me of a boy that I knew once," he reminisced. "He was pure, untainted, not to mention powerful like you; and _such_ cheek he used to give me when I would reprimind him."_

_ With his index finger, the giant touched one of the rods that pierced Nico's stomach. Immediately, it felt as if a thousand nails were driven into his body. The air was sucked out of his lungs in an instant, leaving him unable to scream. The giant grimaced at his pain, but did not lower his hand._

_ " I tried my best to reason with Gaea, child, but she is growing impatient, no doubt the Concillium is causing all kinds of trouble for her.''_

_ "Is... he... alive? Percy?" Nico felt cold hands trying to pull him under to Tartarus, he gazed into the darkness, and to his surprise he found Bianca, studying him with her eyes, a single tear rolling down the side of her face._

_ ''I wish there was some other way...'' The giant, mused. '' I tried to protect your brother as best as I could, but in the end, he is an enemy.''_

_ Nico glanced at the giant, and back at Bianca, he nodded once, and then...blackness._

**Percy**

Percy woke up feeling like his body was on fire. The face of Nico di Angelo, twisted by pain, was emblazoned in his mind, he saw Bianca too, in her ghostly form, and that made him wonder just how far the Doors of Death had opened.

One quiet blessed morning, when there wasn't a million weapons being thrown at them, Annabeth and Percy discussed the Doors, how dead people could be alive and walk around like regular people. Annabeth tried to hide it as best as she could, but Percy could see it in her eyes. She hoped that Luke escaped.

Percy walked over to his sink and splashed water on his face, until he noticed his clothes were soaked in sweat. Percy peeled off his clothes and jumped into the shower.

Moments later, drying his wet hair with a towel, he stepped out onto the cool night, feeling the ocean waves that cascaded underneath the Argo II. Standing under innumerable stars, he wondered whether he should tell Annabeth about what he saw, or gods forbid, one of the Concillium members.

"Little early to be out, isn't it?"

"Gah!" Percy nearly jumped out of his skin, and immediately all of the moisture in his towel evaporated. The training helped him control his powers a lot better now, but sometimes he would still have some relapses.

Chuckling with his lazy smile, Shapiro had made himself some sort of hammock and was lying down on it, happily eating what appeared to be a peach.

"Shapiro, we really need to uh... talk about scaring the Hades out of me whenever we meet." Percy shuddered.

Shapiro nodded. "Sit down Jackson."

Immediately, as he formed these words, a hammock similar to his weaved iself into place. "Oh... uh... thanks," Percy muttered.

Percy sat down. For a moment neither one of them said anything. Shapiro and Renati tended to space out randomly, either because they were bad at keeping track of the pasage of time or because they were telepathically talking with the other Concillium members.

" How many of you are there?" Percy had asked one day when they were cleaning up broken armor pieces and weapons.

"Well... I can't exactly tell myself Percy," Shapiro had answered, "all I know is that unless the individual is immensly powerful, due to the hazardous work we do, we work together in pairs of two. Renny and I were paired because we complement each other quite nicely, But, I hear that other members get into some nasty fights."

"Why is that?" Percy asked, perplexed.

"Well..." Shapiro scratched his chin. " If you would study each member, they all made a name for themselves in Greek or Roman mythological history, so they're not really keen to be taking orders from anyone."

From that day on, Percy carefully studied both Renati and Shapiro, and saw that they worked almost flawlessly as a team. Perhaps it was Shapiro's ability to accept and embrace the fact that he preferred Renati's guidance more than he trusted his own.

"The last time I made up my mind about anything, I lost a lot of people I cared about," Shapiro had said, almost to himself, "ever since I don't think I'll be doing any leading for a while, eh Percy?"

╰ ╮_¤°.¸¸.·´¯`»®_ _®«´¯`·.¸¸.°¤_

"So..." Shapiro slowly drew out the 'o' so that it woke Percy from his brooding. " What brings you out here while you should be sleeping like a little girl?"

"Wait, what?" Percy said indignantly, returning from his daydream."Why in Hades am I suddenly a little girl?"

Shapiro shook his head. "Forget it, I'm not going to get into the whole thing right now, what I want to know is: why are you awake right now? And don't make up any stupid lies, you are _terrible_ at lying."

Percy started telling him about his dream, how Nico had been strung up with these... bars that seemed to be sapping his life. Shapiro didn't say anything, he looked surprised when Percy told him what the giant looked like, but other than that, he had a complete poker face.

"Percy, do you have any idea who this giant might be?" Shapiro asked seriously.

Percy had asked everyone, Annabeth, Reyna, Jason, even Poseidon, and they had all had no answers.

"No...Not even my dad knew."

"There's only one person that knows who that man really is," Shapiro said quietly. "I only have guesses, myself, but...no it can't be."

" Who do you think he is?"

Shapiro opened his mouth to answer, when a hand touched his shoulder. It was Renati, and he did not look good. " We have a serious problem." He said grimly.

Renati guided them towards the engine room, when Percy heard a yell and a wrench flew out of the door.

''Gah!'' Percy jumped out of the way, and heard more frustrated grumbles and swearing. Leo was underneath the master control, sweat covering more than half of his small body, with little bits of scrap metal scattered around him like a snowglobe.

''Leo! What's going on!?''

Leo jumped out from underneath the system, his face messy with sweat and grease, and his eyes looking a little wild. ''Nothing is going on! That's the problem!''

Renati wordlessly handed Leo a towel. Still huffing, Leo stood up and cleaned up his face. ''The radar system isn't picking up any dangerous lifeform within 50 miles, but I could swear- and Renati said he heard it too- I- we heard this noise coming from behind the ship.''

''I'm pretty sure it wasn't anything Leo,'' Shapiro said amicably. ''it must have been a long night for you two, and I think that if you-''

The Argo II lurched sideways, so sharply that Percy stumbled and fell. Leo gave a moan and dashed back under the controls, trying to desperately figure out what was amiss.

5 demigods in pajamas all staggered into the room, some of them sporting some crazy hairstyles.

''I was sleeping and I felt-''

''Tumbled straight out of my bed-''

''Scared the Hades out of me!''

Renati held up his hand for silence. ''We do not need you all to panic, but I feel that there may be a battle coming, and I suggest you all prepare for it.''

Jason looked ashamed, probably since he was the son of Zeus, and he had been sleeping while all of this commotion was going on. He silently took Piper by the shoulders and left the room.

Annabeth gave Percy a quick hug and went over to Leo, immediately asking questions about the ship.

Frank and Hazel spoke a quick hello and then went out to prepare themselves.

Everything went by so quickly that Percy could barely process what was going on.

''Do you really think it could be-'' Renati started, turning to Shapiro.

Shapiro shook his head. ''There's only a few possibilities, based on the cry you heard-''

''It wasn't just one cry,'' Renati said, ''it was many, atleast ten of them.''

Percy walked up to them and cleared his throat. ''What are you guys talking about?''

''Dragons,'' said Shapiro grimly. ''A lot of them.''

Leo shot up and looked alarmed. ''What did you say?''

''Dragons,'' Shapiro repeated, looking puzzled. ''A lot of them.''

Dread filled Leo's eyes. ''Oh no... I never should have...''

''Should have what?'' Annabethe looked up from under the controls.

Leo gave an uneasy laugh and looked at the atmosphere of the group. '' Well... when I was building Festus, I was a little sad because he never really had like a lady friend y'know? So, I built him this thing that detects potential love interests for him so he wouldn't be so lonely and maybe make a friend.''

Annabeth looked bewildered. ''You gave a ship hormones!?''

Leo raised his hands up to his head. ''I thought it was a good idea for him. And it's not exactly hormones, it's more along the lines of...a soft spot. I was just being a good wingman!''

Despite the situation, Percy found himself laughing. '' You made Festus into a womanizer?''

''So then these dragons are all female?'' Renati asked.

''I don't know,'' Said Leo. '' but if it was a dude, then he would have sounded the alarm a long time ago.''

''Then we are in serious trouble,'' Shapiro headed for the door. '' female dragons are bigger and more ferocious than male dragons. Like way bigger and angrier. I'll notify everyone.''

Renati remained standing, the only difference was a sword hanging from his belt. ''I will be on the look out for these dragons, but in the meantime, you three should go and get prepared, dragons are very hard to kill.''

**JayKayy's A/N**

** It's been 4**** months of waiting fans, and I am sorry about the hiatus but NG and**** I have been busy with life and had no time for writing. It was only after I saw all of the reviews and a quiet evening pondering the fate of this book did I decide to start writing again. I may be a little rusty in the writing, but basically some time has**** passed between 34 and 35, and there will be a little surprise for you guys next chapter. Special thanks especially to nevergivein since I emailed him about a week ago and he said, '' cool, I'm all for it.''**

** I thank Constellapeia for Pming me time to tim****e so I don't forget about FanFiction; I'm still waiting on the chapter Skye!**

** And PerfectMarySueKiller... you have made me want to start writing again. Thank you.**

** Okay, so hopefully the next chapter will be much quicker to write and I will start pouring m****ore time into writing chapters, some interesting Greek monsters that have not been mentioned yet would be helpful.**

** Alrighty, I think that's all I have to say for now. Hope you guys enjoyed 35 with many more to come!**

**NG's A/N**

** So...what should I say here? I guess sorry is the first thing that comes to mind. This is what, the hundreth time this story has gone on one of these breaks? Well, we're back so that's good, and we'll try to make it to the end of this story, and maybe even beyond! Thank you for all of your reviews, and to PerfectMarySueKiller, I appreciate your offer, but I think Jay and I have got this. I think we might actually be able to finish this story. Oh, and thank you all for actually continuing to deal with my and Jay's crap. We may not be punctual, but at least we eventually listen to you guys. So yeah, that's all I've got to say, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.**

** P.S: We're still after you Riordan! We will get the rights to PJO and HoO!**

** JayKayy: ^^^ this above comment; yes. Just yes.**


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